


Another chance

by DreamyHope



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Felicity wasn't paralysed, Laurel and Tommy aren't dead, family au, they are getting married actually
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2018-07-11 05:06:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 21,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7030177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamyHope/pseuds/DreamyHope
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Felicity's coming back from Central City for her step-sister's wedding. She knows she's going to meet Oliver for the first time in three years. She has a daughter Oliver doesn't know about and she's not sure how Oliver's going to react.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I started to write this story after s04e08 but before s04e15 happened and I didn't feel like rewriting as I really like this idea (just hope I'm not the only one ;o) ).  
> It was suppose to be one-shot but it's already longer than I expected and it's not even finished yet...so... =o)
> 
> Also all mistakes are mine.

_„Oliver, why didn’t you tell me you have a son?” Felicity asked him directly because beating around the bush wouldn’t do any good._

_She watched him taking a breath and opening his mouth to say something but at the end he didn’t. He just had that pleading look in his eyes. She knew what he wanted to tell her by it and she ignored it because it wasn’t only about him anymore; there was too much in stake._

_„Where you ever going to tell me about him if I hadn’t find out?”_

_And it was some way to find out about her fiancée’s son. She came home early that day and just in time to pick up the ringing phone. Oh, how she wished she wouldn’t do that!_

_It was call from the hospital in Central City. The woman on the other side of line said that there had been an accident and she was calling because Mr. Queen has been one of William Clayton’s emergency contacts. Felicity had been confused at first but then she asked some questions and everything started to get clearer._

_Samantha Clayton and her son had been in a car crash and Oliver was William’s emergency contact. And just like that Felicity knew what was going on with Oliver since their visit in Central City. She didn’t have to be a genius to put one and one together._

_“Would you tell me?” she asked again._

_“I-,” struggled Oliver. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I made a promise.”_

_She opened her eyes wide. “You made a promise? Seriously? Oliver, we’re about to get married soon! You shouldn’t hide the truth from me! Honesty is a huge part of a relationship! Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”_

_“I wanted to protect him,” he breathed out. “And I promised Samantha that I wouldn’t tell you.”_

_Felicity nodded. “Yeah, I heard that.” She swallowed and pulled down the engagement ring. “I’m really sorry, Oliver, but I can’t marry somebody who can’t be honest with me.” She put the ring on the counter between them. “If you’ll ever be able to be honest with me then you can give the ring back to me.” She shook her head. “But until then-,” she shrugged. “This is a goodbye.”_

_And she left him without as much as another look. She was heartbroken but she had to do it. There wasn’t any other option. Felicity understood his reasons but they weren’t enough. He should tell her instead of keeping it a secret; he had plenty of opportunities to do so._

***

Felicity frowned at the wedding invitation and sighed. She had thought that she made herself clear last week when she called Laurel and declined the invitation; Laurel had been sending her invitations at least once a week for the past month. Felicity just couldn’t come to the wedding. She had plenty of excuses but the truth was that she couldn’t face Oliver, not yet anyway. Three years hadn’t been enough; not in the slightest. And there was a secret between them, the one Felicity kept after telling Oliver that honesty is a huge part of successful relationship.

With another sigh Felicity walked over to the small living room where she found Emily, the babysitter, reading a book. “Hi Emily.” Felicity smiled. “How was she today?” She asked while taking off her jacket.

The nineteen year old got up from the sofa and gave Felicity smile. “She was amazing.” She looked at her watch. “She fell asleep twenty minutes ago.” Emily made her way to the door before turning back to her. “Oh! And the teacher in nursery said she was a bit handful around the lunchtime but nothing they couldn’t handle.”

Felicity frowned. Handful? Her little angel? Her Liv who was the most easygoing child she had ever met? “Thank you, Emily. I’ll talk to the teacher tomorrow morning.” She handed her an envelope from the table next to the door. “I’ll see you on Wednesday, ok? Have a nice weekend and good luck with your exam on Tuesday.”

“Thank you! See you.”

Felicity closed the door and went to Liv’s bedroom. She watched the sleeping girl for couple of minutes. She couldn’t help herself and wonder what her life would look like if she didn’t break up with Oliver or if she told him about the pregnancy when she found out or if she didn’t get pregnant at all. Felicity shivered. She couldn’t even imagine her life without her daughter and although it was pretty hard to be working single mother, she managed and she would never change it for anything.

Felicity heard the doorbell and with a small frown went to answer it. She didn’t expect anybody to stop by but maybe Emily forgot something. The girl had her own key from Felicity’s apartment but she didn’t usually use it when Felicity had been home.

Once she opened the door she froze. “Laurel? What are you doing here?”

“I came to visit mum.” Laurel shrugged. “And I couldn’t go back home without seeing my niece and my favourite stepsister.”

Felicity stepped aside and let Laurel into the hallway. “Well, come in but Liv’s sleeping.”

“Can I wait until she wakes up? That will give us a chance to talk.”

And that was the problem, if Laurel wanted to talk then Felicity knew exactly what about. “Would you like something to drink? Coffee? Tea? Anything?”

“Just glass of water, please.”

“Sure,” muttered Felicity and made her way to the kitchen. When she came back, Laurel sat on the sofa so Felicity put two glasses on the coffee table and sat across her stepsister. “How’s your mum? I saw her the other day. She looked really happy.”

“She is happy,” she assured her and then pointed finger at her. “But you know I’m not here to talk about my mum.”

Felicity rolled her eyes. Of course she knew it. “Laurel, I told you, I’m not coming. It’s not that I don’t want to be at your wedding, it’s just that I...,” she let out a breath and shook her head. “I just can’t, ok?”

Laurel sighed. “Felicity, please! I need you there! Even Sara’s coming. You will have to face Oliver one day anyway!”

“Laurel.” Felicity sounded defeated.

“Look, Felicity, I get it. You don’t want Oliver to know about Liv and we all support you.” Laurel paused. “Ok, your mum probably doesn’t but the rest of us do. Even Thea’s on your side and believe me, that’s not something what happens every day. She loves Ollie and she understands why Ollie didn’t tell you about William. But I think you understand his reasons too. Or am I wrong?”

Felicity shook her head. Laurel was right. Felicity did understand why Oliver kept William secret. She didn’t approve but she understood. “I’m not worried about Oliver’s reaction to Liv. I _want_ him to know his daughter.”

“Then why? What’s the problem?”

“I still love him,” she whispered. “After all these years I’m still in love with him. I don’t think I’ll be able to walk away again. It would break my heart.”

Laurel smiled. “Then don’t. Would it be so bad to stay in Star City? You’ve got your family there. Your mum would be really happy to have you so close.”

“I live here now. I can’t just drop everything and go back like nothing happened.” Felicity sighed. “Besides Liv have friends here in Central City.”

Laurel seemed to soften when Felicity mentioned the little girl. “Okay, fine; stay in Central City. But, _please_ , come to the wedding. I really need you there.”

Felicity was ready to give up when redemptive thought occurred to her. “What if Barry will need my help while I’m at the wedding and he will need me to be in Star Labs?”

Laurel smiled a smile that made Felicity twitch; her step-sister already thought about that. “He won’t,” said Laurel triumphantly.

“How do you know?” Felicity was pretty sure that she didn’t need Laurel to say it.

Laurel smile turned lenient. “Barry and the others are invited too and they all are coming. And by the way, Barry promised to get you there if you didn’t come willingly.”

With a deep sigh Felicity gave up and promised hers and Liv’s presence at the wedding because there wasn’t anything else she could do.

***

Felicity arrived to Star City two days before the wedding. She wanted to give her mum time to spend with Liv as well as help Laurel with the preparations. The latter didn’t turn out to be the best of her ideas.

At the moment Felicity showed up at Laurel and Tommy’s apartment, her step-sister rushed her into the bedroom. Once the door where closed behind them she handed her a hanger with purple dress on and sent her to the bathroom to change.

Felicity’s only reaction was surprised _why_ which Laurel left without an answer. Felicity decided to do as she was told because there was always enough time to talk afterwards. She striped her clothes – dark blue jeans and pale pink shirt – off and pulled the dress on. The chiffon dress fitted her like second skin. When she came out of the bathroom she’s been met with Laurel’s wide smile.

“Wow! You look fantastic!”

Felicity frowned. “What’s going on?” she demanded.

The blonde woman shrugged. “What? I’ve got you a dress for the wedding.”

“I brought a dress. I spent an hour in the shop with Caitlin and Iris to find it.”

“Well, you went shopping for dress to attend the wedding as a guest but this dress,” Laurel waved her hand by Felicity’s direction, “is for my maid of honour.”

“What?” gasped Felicity, shocked.

Laurel heaved a sigh. “I want you to be my maid of honour. And for your information I planned it the whole time.”

“But...I thought...Sara’s your sister. I thought she’s going to be your maid of honour. She should be!”

“I don’t want her to be. I love my sister and she’s going to be my bridesmaid but you’re the person I want to be my maid of honour.”

Felicity narrowed her eyes. “Are you doing this because of Oliver? He’s going to be Tommy’s best man, isn’t he? Do you think that this,” she waved her hand, “game of yours is going to force me to talk to him about everything that happened between us? To tell him the truth about Liv?”

“No,” Laurel paused. “Well, maybe! I just can’t watch the pair of you any longer. You’re both hurt and I just want you to talk to each other. I’m not saying that you have to get back together but it would be great if we could mention you without worrying about Oliver’s reaction. Two weeks ago Thea mentioned you and Oliver almost shot her!”

The last sentence was meant to be a joke but Felicity frowned. “Ha, ha, funny.”

“I’m serious, Felicity! He is unpredictable. And he got worse since Tommy told him you’re coming.” Laurel hesitated. “You should know that I’ve been showing Thea Liv’s pictures when I came back from Central City and he almost caught us.”

Felicity’s eyes grew wide. “What?”

“Almost! But it’s getting harder to keep her a secret from him. He’s suspicious. He came to see dad at the station when Donna have been there and...well, let’s just say that she had quite hard time not to tell him. You need to understand that she’s been ecstatic about your coming home.”

It took a few moments before Felicity could talk. “Why no one told me anything earlier?”

Laurel sighed. “Because we knew you wouldn’t come if you knew.”

Felicity shook her head. “Or maybe I would come sooner.”

Laurel’s eyebrows shot up. “Would you?”

“I don’t know!”

***

Oliver watched Felicity who was talking to the little girl in pink dress with a frown. He already knew that she was her daughter and he couldn’t help to wonder who had been her father. That little girl with blonde curls didn’t seem to be older than two years which meant that Felicity got over their relationship pretty quickly and it bothered him, a lot!

“What’s wrong?” asked Tommy who joined Oliver near the altar.

Oliver shook his head and looked at his best friend. “Why didn’t you tell me that Felicity had a baby?”

Tommy sighed. “She didn’t want you to know.”

“Why not?”

“I think that this is something you should talk to her about.” He shrugged with apologetic smile.

Oliver narrowed his eyes. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Look, you need to talk to Felicity about it. I’m not telling you anything. I promised!”

“Is Felicity’s boyfriend coming?” asked Oliver instead of pressing the subject.

Tommy looked taken aback. “Felicity’s boyfriend? She doesn’t have a boyfriend.”

“Does she have a husband then?” The thought of Felicity being married to someone else than him was painful but if she was then there was anything he could do.

“What? No!” Tommy laughed.

“Ok. So what’s the deal with that guy who got her pregnant?”

Tommy gave him an odd look. “They’re not together. He doesn’t even know that Liv exists.”

“Probably some jerk who doesn’t know what he is missing.”

Tommy made a face. “Yeah, you could say that.”

***

Later, at the reception, Oliver decided that he needed to talk to Felicity and made his way to her. He hoped to persuade her into going to his loft where he had everything prepared for the best apology possible.

“Felicity,” he said with a smile as he approached her from behind.

She turned to him, her eyes wide. “Um, Oliver, hi.” She placed her hand on the little girls shoulder as if she wanted to protect her.

Oliver frowned for a second. Was she afraid he could hurt her? He gave his head a shake. It was ridiculous! “Care to dance?” he asked, a smile on his lips again.

“Um, well...I thought you don’t dance.”

He shrugged. “Well, I’m a best man and you are a maid of honour so I think everybody expect us to dance.”

She chewed on her lip and looked nervously at her daughter. “Mom, could you look after Liv, please?”

“Of course, hon,” her mother answered, her eyes sparkling.

Felicity squatted down. “Liv, sweetie, stay with nana, ok? Mummy will be back in a bit.”

The little girl nodded enthusiastically.

Felicity stood up and turned to Oliver. “One dance.”

Oliver held out his hand, she took it and let him lead the way to the middle of the ballroom where other couples danced. He placed his hand around her waist. “You look great.”

She smiled and that smile went straight to his heart. “Thank you. You look great yourself.”

He took a deep breath. “Felicity, I think we should talk.”

She chewed on her lip again. “Yeah, you’re right.” She shook her head and looked around. “But not here.”

Oliver nodded. “Of course not. Why don’t you stop by the loft later?”

She was quite for a few seconds. “Ok.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry it took me so long to finish this chapter but I was really busy so there wasn't much time to write. And also I had to find the courage to post this chapter with all the mistakes (yeah, they are all mine and I'm really sorry about it).

Felicity took a deep breath and knocked on the door. She was nervous. She didn’t want to tell Oliver but she knew it was inevitable. She couldn’t keep Liv secret anymore. He would find out soon, especially now when she was moving back to Star City.

The door opened and Oliver welcomed her with a huge smile on his face.

She shivered. She couldn’t imagine Oliver smiling after she told him her news. She was terrified that he wouldn’t believe her. Or, and it would be even worse, he would be furious with her because she didn’t tell him sooner.

“Hi, come in.” He took a step aside and held the door open for her.

“Thanks.” Felicity looked around the loft she once called home.

“Would you like something to drink?”

“Um, no, I’m ok, thanks.”

He made his way to the sofa and she followed him. She stood nervously next to it and didn’t know how to begin. “Oliver, I -,” she started.

“Felicity, I -,” he said in the same moment.

They both laughed nervously.

“You first,” said Oliver and gestured for her to start.

Felicity took a deep breath. “I didn’t mean to keep Liv a secret. I just didn’t know how to tell you. I’m really sorry.”

Oliver gave her a smile. “It’s ok. You don’t have to apologize.”

“Yes, I do. I wasn’t right to keep her from you. You have the right to know your daughter.” She blurted out.

He blinked. “My what now?”

She bit her lip as she realized her mistake. She should’ve known better. “Oliver, I -,” she stopped when his expression turned dark. There was no smile on his lips and she shivered at the look he was giving her.

“You kept my daughter from me?” he asked as if he couldn’t believe it and she couldn’t blame him. “How could you? After what Samantha did to me?”

“Oliver, I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to. I wanted to tell you after she was born but they kept her in hospital and I had to stay with her.” Felicity didn’t tell him how helpless she felt when her daughter had trouble breathing by herself. At times she wished Oliver would be there with her to reassure her that Olivia would be ok. She considered picking up the phone and calling him but she couldn’t do that because she didn’t want to tell him over the phone; it wouldn’t be right.

“I don’t believe you! You’re such a hypocrite! It was you who said that honesty is so important! You were furious when you found out about William and now you’re telling me that I have a daughter! Where’s your honesty now?” he asked.

Felicity stared at him for a minute before turning on her heel and walking out of the loft. There was nothing she could say or do right now. Oliver was right. She was a hypocrite but it was done and she couldn’t change the past.

***

Oliver knocked on the door of his best friends’ apartment. The door opened the moment he wanted to knock again and he stood face to face Laurel.

“Hello Ollie,” she smiled at him.

He narrowed his eyes not even trying to hide his anger. He was pretty sure Laurel knew about Liv all along. “Is Tommy here?”

His best friend’s wife’s eyebrows shot up. He could tell she was surprised by the lack of politeness. “Of course. Come in.” She let him in and went to the bedroom.

It didn’t take long for Tommy to show up with a grin on his face. Oliver wanted to wipe that off of Tommy’s face but he knew it wouldn’t solve anything. “Oh, hi Ollie. What a surprise!”

_Really?_ He wanted to play it this way? “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“What are you talking about?”

Oliver took a deep breath to calm down and once again repeated that it wouldn’t solve anything if he punched his best friend. “You know what I’m talking about. Why didn’t you tell me that I’m Liv’s father?”

Laurel chose this moment to come back. She looked surprised. “How do you know?” she asked.

He shot her a look. “Felicity told me last night.”

“Really?” asked Tommy.

Oliver shrugged. “She didn’t mean to that much I know.” He pointed his index finger at Tommy. “You let me believe that she was with someone else! Why would you do that?”

Tommy shook his head. “No, I didn’t. I just told you that Liv’s father doesn’t know about her. Fact. You were the one who said it’s probably some jerk who doesn’t know what he’s missing. I let you believe _that_.”

Oliver glared at him for a few second before storming out of the apartment. He couldn’t be there any longer. He felt betrayed. It seemed like everybody knew and he was the one – the most important one if you asked him – who didn’t have an idea about anything.

***

Oliver stopped dead in his tracks when somebody ran straight to his legs. He frowned a little and looked down. He found himself looking into the same eyes he stared into this morning in the mirror. He looked around to find Felicity somewhere near but she was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s your mum?” he asked Liv and kneeled so he could be almost the same height as her.

Liv crinkled her eyebrows the same way Felicity did. “By the ice-cream?” she shrugged and tilted her head. “You’re mummy’s friend. Nana said so.”

“I am,” he assured her and stood up. “Shall we find your mum before she loses her mind because she can’t find you?”

She sighed. “Okay.” Maybe it was just Oliver’s imagination but she sounded disappointed.

He held his hand for her but before she could take it, panic stricken voice from behind them called out: “Liv!” 

Felicity ran to them and hugged the little girl. “How many times do I have to tell you not to wander off like this? Do you have any idea how scared I was when I couldn’t find you? Next time you’re sitting in the trolley.”

“No, mummy, please! You know I don’t like it.” Tears started to fall on the girl cheeks.

Felicity shook her head and Oliver could see that she had to fight herself to stay strong and not to give up to Liv’s tears. “No, young lady, I told you before...one more time and we’re going back to sitting in a trolley.”

Liv sobbed. “I’m sorry, mummy.” She hugged Felicity and hid her face in her mother’s shoulder.

Oliver coughed to get Felicity’s attention.

She looked up at him with wide eyes. “Oliver, hi. I’m sorry I didn’t see you. Um...I hope she didn’t bother you too much.”

He smiled. “Not at all. She’s a sweet little girl.” _His_ sweet little girl.

Felicity chewed on her bottom lip.

“Do you think we could have a dinner tonight?” he asked because he wanted answers. He wanted them for the last week; since she ran away from the loft.

“I would have to ask mum if she can look after Liv,” said Felicity after a while.

Oliver nodded and handed her his business card. “Ok, let me know when you do.”

She took the card from him. “Sure.”

“Well, it was nice to see you but I have to go,” he said with a look at his watch.

Oliver didn’t wait for her reply because if he did he wouldn’t be able to keep his distance and that was something he had to do until they talked.

***

After an hour of going through her wardrobe Felicity decided on dark green dress. She knew Oliver used to love her in red but she couldn’t bring herself to wear a red dress. She didn’t think it would be appropriate although her mother – and Liv - thought otherwise.

Felicity looked at herself in a mirror for the last time before making her way out of her apartment. There was a car waiting for her in front of the building. Oliver insisted on Digg picking her up. She didn’t want to but she gave up when Oliver played the guilt card.

Digg smiled. “You look lovely, Felicity.”

“Thank you.” She sat on the back seat and waited for Digg to sit in driver’s seat before asking: “How are Lyla and Sara?”

“They are great, thanks. Lyla wants you to meet for a coffee some time soon. She has some news to share.” He gave her a wink through the rear-view mirror.

Felicity gasped. “Is she pregnant?”

Digg laughed. “I should know better than tell you. Yes, she is. But don’t tell her I told you. She wants to do it herself.”

“Don’t worry, my lips are sealed,” she promised and leaned back to enjoy the view. She hasn’t been in Star City for far too long, she missed it.

“We’re here,” said Digg after ten minutes drive.

Felicity sighed and bit her bottom lip. She wasn’t sure that she could do this, to face Oliver and his anger. She knew he had every right to be upset about it. She just hoped he would listen to her reasons as she listened to his three years ago.

Digg opened the door for her and she smiled at him. “Thank you.” She stood nervously next to the car for a few moments and then asked: “How’s his mood?” She needed some assurance that she wasn’t going to end up in tears again; she had enough of that last week.

John placed his hand gently on her shoulder. “You’re going to be ok. He wants to talk about it not to scare you away.”

Felicity smiled gratefully. “Thank you. Say hello to Lyla and Sara for me. Tell Lyla I’ll call her in the morning to set up a meeting.”

“Will do.” He got back into the car and drove away.

Felicity took a few moments to brace herself. She kept repeating herself that it didn’t matter how it went with Oliver because she would always have her little girl to come back to.

***

Oliver was nervous which didn’t happen often. He knew why he was nervous though; because if he screwed up there wouldn’t be a way back. He would lose Felicity and Liv forever and he wasn’t sure he could survive that. They meant a world to him; even Liv who he met only for a brief moment but ever since Felicity told him that she was his daughter he had the urge to protect her with his life.

When he heard the knock on the door he took a deep breath. He opened the door and couldn’t do anything else than stare. Felicity took his breath away. She did it years ago and she did it now.

“You look beautiful,” he breathed out.

“Thank you.” Her gaze travelled from his head to toes and back. “You look pretty handsome yourself.”

He smiled and let her in. He led the way to the table and held out a chair. He was really happy that he got to do that because he missed even a small thing like that. When she was safely seated he went to the fridge and took out her favourite wine – well, it was her favourite years ago and he hoped it didn’t change.

“Wine?” asked Oliver, holding the bottle up for Felicity to see.

She shook her head. “Just water, please.”

He remembered their first date and smiled. “Benzos again?”

He watched her try to suppress a smile but failed. “My daughter.” Her expression turned serious. “I can’t let the alcohol to cloud my judgment. It’s not just my future at the stake in here anymore.”

“Fair enough.” He put the wine on the table anyway because he wasn’t sure he could manage without it.

When he brought their dinner Felicity smiled but her eyes sparkled with tears. He put the cordon bleu on the table and kneeled next to her. “Felicity, please, don’t cry!” he pleaded. “I didn’t mean to make you cry. I just thought you would like it.”

She sniffed. “I do. I really do. It’s just...there’s too many memories. And you went to all this trouble just to make me feel good but I don’t deserve it.”

“What are you talking about? Of course you deserve it! You deserve so much more than this!” He meant every word he said. She deserved more than this, more than him, more than to have his child and being single mother. He knew it and he wanted to tell her all of this but it wasn’t the right time for that. He would tell her soon.

***

After Felicity’s meltdown they ate the dinner and she told him everything about Liv’s first year of life. By the time they were enjoying their coffee Felicity pulled out her phone. “I’ve got a video of Liv’s first step if you want to see it. Well, not first step exactly because I don’t film every single moment of her life so it’s probably the second or third but I guess you’ve got the idea,” she laughed nervously.

Oliver smiled. He was glad she didn’t lose anything from her personality. “I would love to see it,” he assured her and walked to her. He heard her take a deep breath when he leaned closer and their shoulders touched. 

He watched the little girl taking a few steps while gripping the edge of the coffee table. Once she looked more confident she let go of the table and did couple of steps towards the phone before falling down on her bottom.

He couldn’t help but smile when Liv blinked a few times then getting up again and walking the rest of the way to her mother.

“She fell a couple times after that but she never cried,” mumbled Felicity, looking at him.

Oliver looked into her eyes. “She’s really brave. Just like her mother.” He touched her cheek gently, not wanting to overstep.

Felicity shook her head. “She’s got that from you. I’m terrified half of the time.”

He took a stray of her hair between his fingers just to feel the silkiness of it. “I think that’s part of the parenthood.”

“Probably.”

“Besides you know what could happen so no one can blame you that you want to protect her.”

She chewed on her bottom lip. “What about you? Do you want protect her?”

He nodded. “Of course! I would give my life for my child.”

Small smile played on Felicity’s lips.

Oliver watched her for a bit before taking a deep breath. “Could I meet her?” he asked, nervously. It wasn’t like he didn’t meet her already but this time it would be different.

“Of course. She’s your daughter too and you’ve got every right to be a part of her life.” She paused. “Just-,” she sighed.

His eyebrows shot up in a silent question.

“She doesn’t know you’re her father and I would like to keep it that way; at least for now. I promise I will tell her but I’m not ready for that kind of a talk yet.” The look in her eyes told him that if he didn’t play by her rules then there wouldn’t be a chance for him to have any kind of relationship with Liv.

He quickly nodded. “I will do whatever you want me to.”

She gently touched his arm. “Thank you.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“What did you tell her when she asked about her father?” He wasn’t sure why it was important but for some reason it was.

Felicity sighed. “I told her that her daddy didn’t know about her. She asked why and I made sure that she knew it was my decision.”

Oliver frowned. “Why did you do that? Why didn’t you lie?” He knew Felicity would never lie to anybody if it wasn’t necessary but he could imagine that telling the truth to child mustn’t be easy.

“I never lied to her. She’s smart and she understands stuff.” She shrugged. “And I knew that one day she was going to meet you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the next chapter Oliver is going to bond with Liv (I'm curious how that goes :D) but I only have one sentence written so it will take time to finish it but I promise I will finish it. =o)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry it took me so long to write this chapter but...well, life happened. It's pretty short and I hope that some of you are going to like it.
> 
> Any mistakes are mine.

On Friday evening, after Liv was fast asleep in her bedroom, Felicity sat down in the living room with Thea and bottle of wine. Normally she would invite Laurel too but she and Tommy were on their honeymoon.

“Ollie’s really excited about tomorrow,” said Thea.

Felicity smiled a little. “I know. Liv’s excited too. She doesn’t even care that I won’t be there.” She shook her head.

Thea looked at her for a long moment. “Are you disappointed?”

“What? No. It just,” she sighed, “it just feels like I’m losing her.”

“That’s ridiculous! You’re not losing her! You’re doing the right thing. She deserves to know her father.”

Felicity sipped the wine. “I know. I also know I should tell him sooner but I couldn’t.”

Thea frowned. “Why not?”

The blonde took a deep breath. “If I tell you, you have to promise that Oliver will never hear anything about it!”

“But -.”

“No buts, Thea! I’m serious! I will tell him myself if I have to but you won’t breathe a word about this. Are we clear?” Felicity glared at her.

“Crystal.”

Felicity took another deep breath. “You know I wanted to tell him when she was born but I couldn’t because there was a problem with her breathing so she had to stay in hospital. And to be honest I was glad I didn’t have to face Oliver so soon.”

“Why’s that? I mean I know Ollie can be difficult but he loves you and you love him.”

“Does he? Really?” she asked and when Thea nodded without a doubt in her expression, Felicity continued: “Because it didn’t seem that way at all. I waited for him to come for me but he didn’t. He knew where I was. I wasn’t hiding and he still didn’t come. I told him that he could give me the ring back when he’s ready to be honest with me. Yet he didn’t.”

Thea interrupted her. “He had too much on his plate. He found out the truth about William, you broke up with him and he still had to defeat Darhk.”

Felicity sighed. “I know, Thea. It wasn’t fair not to tell him about his daughter but I didn’t feel like I had a different choice. You’re defending your brother and I got it but what about me? It wasn’t easy to make the decision but I did and I can’t take it back.” She shook her head. “I probably wouldn’t change it even if I could.” She realized she sounded cold, like she didn’t care. But she did care, she cared too much and it was the problem. She had her daughter to think about and even if it was hard, one part of her was glad that she could protect her from all the bad things. Felicity knew that if she was with Oliver when Liv was born, the little girl would become a target of every single bad guy who found out that Oliver Queen, the mayor of Star City, was the Green Arrow as well.

***

Oliver smiled at his daughter’s excitement as they entered the ZOO. He was happy he could spend some quality time with her, get to know her. It was Felicity’s suggestion to take Liv to the ZOO as she loved animals. He warned her that – if seen – they would be all over the news. Felicity was fine with that as long as he kept his promise and didn’t tell Liv that he was her father.

“Oh, look, penguins!” Liv squealed and pulled him by his hand in that direction.

“What animal do you like the most?” he asked.

Liv frowned a little. “Tigers!” She looked up at him. “Do they have tigers here?”

“They sure do,” he assured her with a smile.

Just then Oliver caught a glimpse of camera going off. He cursed silently. He hoped it would take longer than five minutes for someone to take the picture of him and Liv. He knew that the news was going to have a fit but he couldn’t do anything about it right now.

He looked back at his daughter. Her eyes sparkled.

“Could you take some pictures to show mummy?” she asked him.

“Of course,” he assured her and pulled his phone out from the back pocket of his jeans just as it started to ring. “Just a sec.” He smiled at Liv. “Hi Felicity.”

“Oliver. Why’s there a picture on twitter with my daughter on it asking if she’s your love child?”

He gulped. That was quick. “Felicity, calm down. Somebody just took a picture. They don’t know anything. Let my PR handle it.”

“Why don’t _I_ handle it?”

Oliver sighed. “Felicity, _please_!”

There was a silence and he wondered if she was still there. “Fine! But it would be done in seconds!”

“I know,” he assured her.

“Can I talk to Liv?”

“Sure.” He looked at their daughter. “Liv, mummy wants to talk to you.” He handed her the phone.

“Hello mummy!” She smiled. “Yeah! Just penguins but they have tigers! We’ll take pictures and show them to you later!” She paused and listened to whatever Felicity had to say. “Ok, mummy. Love you too. Bye.” She handed the phone back to him. “Mummy said to have fun. And she can’t wait to see the pictures.”

Oliver bit his lip to stop from laughing. He was pretty sure she already hacked his phone and was looking for any new pictures in it. Well, he was going to give her something. He squatted down, pulled Liv to his side, made sure there were penguins behind them and took a picture.

It didn’t take long for Felicity’s text to come saying _nice one_. Yeah, he knew her all too well.

***

Oliver watched the little girl sitting across the table from him, gripping the stuffed tiger in one hand and eating her ice-cream with the other. He couldn’t be prouder. They had an amazing day in ZOO and then he took her for dinner – with Felicity’s approval, of course. He wouldn’t do anything she wasn’t happy with because he was pretty sure that she wouldn’t let him near their daughter otherwise.

“I love mint chip!” exclaimed Liv and smiled at him.

“Just like your mum.” He winked at her. He saw so much of Felicity in her as he did of himself. It seemed that Liv had the best of both of her parents in her and it was a good thing.

“Auntie Thea!” Liv waved to someone behind Oliver.

Oliver sighed. He didn’t want to share his daughter. Especially when his sister knew about Liv all along and had the opportunity to meet her and spent time with her anytime she felt like it.

“Hello princess,” she smiled and ruffled Liv’s hair. “Hi Ollie.” Thea sat on the empty chair.

“What are you doing here?” he whispered when Liv got back to eating her ice-cream.

She shrugged and gave him angelic smile. “I was in neighbourhood.”

“Why do I have trouble to believe that?”

“That, big brother, I don’t know.” She turned to Liv. “Did you have fun? Oh, and who’s this?”

“Loads and loads of fun!” assured Liv. “Ollie, bought it for me.” Liv called him Ollie because she couldn’t pronounce Oliver properly just yet.

“But don’t you have one home already?”

“This one’s white!” Liv gave Thea a look which clearly said that that should be obvious.

Thea chuckled. “Okay. Why don’t you finish the ice-cream?” When she was sure that Liv’s not paying them any attention, Thea turned to her brother with raised eyebrows. “That look was the same you’ve got sometimes,” she whispered.

Oliver shrugged with a proud smile playing on his lips. What could he say? She was right and he was really happy about it; probably more than he should but who cared? He sure didn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter didn't go as planned and I'm sorry about that.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's short and I don't think Oliver, Felicity or Donna would behave like they do in this chapter but...nevermind.
> 
> As usual all mistakes are mine.

Felicity had been restless for most of the afternoon. She knew Liv was safe with Oliver but she also knew that there was just too much danger they didn’t see coming most of the times. When she couldn’t handle it anymore she sent Thea to see Oliver and Liv. She didn’t regret it – much anyway.

Sure she felt bad for ruining Oliver’s day with Liv which he deserved but it was worth it because that way Liv was even more safe and she would do anything – _anything_ – to keep her daughter unharmed.

The doorbell rang and she knew it was time to face Oliver’s anger.

“Hello Felicity,” he said through clenched teeth.

“Hi mummy!” Liv skipped through the front door with a grin. “I had _so_ much fun! And I had an ice-cream after dinner and I ate it _all_!”

Thea smiled as she watched the little girl disappear in the living room. “Hi Felicity.”

“I need to talk to you.”

She sighed. “Come in, guys.” She invited them in.

“Liv, sweetie?” called Felicity.

Her daughter came running towards her. “Yeah, mummy?”

“Could you get ready for bed with aunt Thea?”

Liv nodded, took Thea’s hand and led the way to the bathroom.

Felicity watched them until the bathroom door shut behind them. She took a deep breath and turned to Oliver.

She wanted to say something but he beat her to it: “Why did you send Thea after us? Because I don’t buy that crap she tried to feed me with! You promised me all day with Liv!”

“I was worried,” she whispered. It seemed stupid now. She let her anxieties to take over and the result of it was shouting Oliver. Scary looking, angry, shouting Oliver. She forgot how scary he could be when shouting.

“No, you didn’t trust me! Not even with my phone hacked and I bet you saw our every step through cameras all over the city.”

She felt the heat climbing up her face. He wasn’t wrong about it. She knew where they were but not every second of the day. Thea wouldn’t let her to check the footage – and the restaurant didn’t have security cameras! Really, who didn’t have cameras in the city where villains loved to attack all the time? It was crazy. 

“I was worried! It’s just natural! She’s my daughter!”

“She’s my daughter too!” he snapped.

She narrowed her eyes. “But you weren’t there! You don’t know what it is to worry about her life when you can’t do anything but believe the doctors that she’s going to be ok!”

“I didn’t know about her!” He all but shouted.

“Because you didn’t come!”

Oliver groaned. “I would’ve if you told me about her!”

Felicity gave him a sad smile. “You would come because of Liv but not because of me.” She shook her head. “I couldn’t do that to her.”

“I would come because of both of you!”

“Yet you didn’t. I told you to come when you’re ready to be honest with me but you didn’t,” she reminded him. “You didn’t even ask Barry or Digg or anybody about me!” Her voice was louder with each word said.

Thea, Liv in a tow, chose that moment to come back into the room.

“All done, mummy,” said Liv with a smile, not picking up the tension of the room for which Felicity was grateful.

“Great! Say good night to auntie Thea and Oliver.”

“We’re not done yet,” muttered Oliver.

Felicity shot him a look. “I’m not having this conversation with my daughter next door!” she warned him.

He looked between her and the little girl before giving up: “Fine! Have it your way.”

Liv hugged Thea. “Good night, auntie Thea.” She gave her a kiss and moved to Oliver. “Thank you, Ollie. Good night.”

“Night night, princess. I will see you soon,” he promised.

Felicity wanted to say that it was still up to her if he saw her but she stopped herself. He had the right to see his daughter even if she didn’t like it.

***

It’s been a month since Oliver’s first outing with Liv and it’s been a month of constant arguing between him and Felicity. He seemed to come to terms with the fact that she sent Thea after them but Felicity had a feeling that she was going to hear about it again.

“I see you brought reinforcement.” Felicity made a face when she saw her mother with Oliver in her office. She should’ve known. 

A week ago Oliver warned her that she was going to listen to him next time they had the conversation about telling or not telling Liv the truth about him. She didn’t want to tell her yet and he knew it but he couldn’t wait for Liv to know and he refused to listen to her reasons.

“You didn’t give me a choice,” he reminded her coldly. “If I came alone you would find an excuse why you can’t tell Liv the truth.”

She glared at him. “An excuse? They are not excuses, Oliver!” She shook her head. “And you don’t have the right to tell me what I should or shouldn’t tell my daughter!”

“Felicity,” gasped her mother.

Felicity gave Donna a piercing look. “What? It’s true! There’s nothing he or _you_ can do if I decide not to tell her.”

“He’s her father, Felicity.”

She shrugged. “I don’t care.” She had enough on her plate without this. Now wasn’t a great time to talk about this anyway as Liv was on her way to the office with Thea who was picking her up from nursery. She pointed her finger at them. “I know you both are eager to tell her but I’m her mother and I’m _not_ ready for that yet. So you will have to accept that.”

“Damn it, Felicity, I’m her father!” snapped Oliver.

Felicity didn’t have a chance to answer because Donna was staring behind her back with wide eyes. She swallowed hard and slowly turned around. Her nightmare just became real. Thea stood there, frozen in the spot, holding Liv’s hand. The little girl looked surprised and scared.

“Mummy? Why did Ollie shout at you?” asked Liv quietly.

“I-,” started Oliver just to be stopped by Felicity’s glare shot over her shoulder.

Felicity made her way to Liv and picked her up. “I need to tell you something, sweetie.” She took a deep breath. “Do you remember when we talked about your daddy?”

Liv nodded her head.

Felicity felt tears welling up in her eyes but she didn’t let that to stop her from smiling. “I told you he didn’t know about you, didn’t I? Because he lived far away?”

She nodded again, serious look in her eyes.

Felicity looked around the room and took another deep breath. “Well, he doesn’t live far away anymore. Sweetie, Oliver’s your daddy.” She almost choked on those three words.

Liv’s eyes widened. “Really?”

“Yes,” whispered Felicity while fighting tears. Liv’s eyes sparkled and she knew, _she just knew_ , that her daughter is excited and it was only matter of time when she smiled and ran to Oliver and Felicity would lose her to him.

Felicity was right, Liv smiled the biggest smile, wriggled out of her mother’s hug and ran to Oliver who caught her and cuddled her.

“You’re my daddy!”

“Yes, I’m, princess.”

Felicity couldn’t take it anymore. She excused herself and found her way out of the building. She sat on the first bench she came across and tried really hard not to cry. She knew she should be happy because Liv was happy but it just felt... _wrong_. For the last few years it was just them and now her little girl had daddy she wanted and what was left for Felicity? She would have to share Liv with Oliver because there was no chance she could keep them apart now when they both knew the truth. But she didn’t want to share Liv; she wanted her all to herself. It was hard enough to listen to Liv’s babbling about Ollie every time she came home after the day out with him. How was she going to survive it now? Felicity didn’t have an idea.

***

That evening, when Liv finally fell asleep and Felicity was enjoying a glass of wine, her phone buzzed. She sighed and answered the call because she couldn’t put her mother on hold any longer.

“Felicity, honey, we need to talk,” said Donna.

Felicity rolled her eyes. “ _Now_ you want to talk? Not interested, mum!” She was aware that she wasn’t nice but she wasn’t in a mood to be nice.

She heard Donna’s sigh. “Felicity.”

“No, mum. You helped Oliver to get what _he_ wanted so I don’t have anything to talk to you about!” Felicity loved her mother but this was something she needed time to process.

“Honey, they deserved this chance.”

“And what about me? I don’t deserve a chance to decide what’s best for my daughter?” she asked.

“Of course, you do! Nobody’s taking that away from you,” reminded Donna.

Felicity laughed unhappily. “Oliver did this afternoon. He shouted that he’s her father and he saw her when he did!” When she heard her mother taking a breath to protest, she continued: “Don’t you even try to deny that! I know he did! He faced the door! And it’s really hard not to see when the whole wall is made of glass!” With that she ended the call and threw her phone on the sofa next to her.

Why didn’t anybody want to see things from her point of view? If they let her she would tell Liv but in her own time not when they wanted it. She pictured it for the last couple of weeks. She had this whole speech ready but they took it from her. And she wasn’t going to forgive them that anytime soon.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all I just want to tell you that I'm not going to apologize for the last chapter. If you don't think that this is how would mother react then that's fine with me. I read all of the comments and took them into the consideration but that's all. I'm not going to rewrite that chapter because I like it just fine.
> 
> As usual all mistakes are mine.

It’s been two weeks since Felicity told Liv that Oliver was her father and it’s been two weeks from hell.

“Daddy makes better food!” exclaimed Liv when Felicity put her bowl with dinner on a table.

Felicity sighed. “Yeah, I know. But you love pasta with tomato sauce and cheese, don’t you?” She stayed calm but it was hard; especially today. 

In a morning Liv didn’t want to get dress in her favourite pink polka dot skirt because ‘daddy let her wear leggings and jeans when going out’ so Felicity gave up and Liv wore dark blue jeans with a white t-shirt to nursery. Then just after a lunch Oliver brought Liv to Felicity’s office as Thea has been out of town, visiting Roy, so she couldn’t pick her niece up and the little girl threw a tantrum. She wanted to go with daddy because apparently he was more fun to be around. So she gave up again and picked her up at the mayor’s office just about an hour ago. Well, and now Liv didn’t want to eat her favourite food. 

“I want daddy’s pasta!” said Liv as she pushed her bowl further away.

“Daddy’s not here,” reminded her Felicity.

The little girl shrugged. “Call him! He will come if it’s for me. He said so.”

Felicity made a face. _Of course, he did,_ she thought sullenly. “I’m not going to call him. If you don’t want to eat it then you can go straight to bed.” She felt bad for saying it but she had enough. She couldn’t give up to every demand her daughter had.

Liv sniffed. “You’re mean!”

That was the last drop. Felicity picked up the phone and dialled Oliver’s number because if she had to deal with her daughter in this mood they would both end up in tears. She was just a step away from shouting at Liv and she had never done that!

***

“She’s asleep,” said Oliver when he came to the living room.

“Thanks.”

He sighed. “Felicity.”

She raised her hand to stop him. “Please, don’t.”

Another sigh. “I don’t want to make things difficult for you.”

She laughed unhappily. “Sure, you don’t. That’s why you wanted me to tell her? That’s why you do all the fun stuff with her? Because it’s been two weeks and I’m already exhausted. Nothing’s good enough for her anymore. Everything was so much easier when we lived in Central City.”

“I’m sorry.”

She shook her head. “You’re not. You’re happy that you daughter loves you and I’m happy too. It just...it’s hard and I don’t know what to do.” She shook her head again. “But it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t concern you.”

“Can I do something to help?” he asked.

Felicity looked at him for a few moments before answering: “Yeah. You can go home. Liv’s sleeping so you don’t need to be here. Thank you for cooking her dinner but I can take it from here.” 

He seemed taken aback. Felicity knew this wasn’t what he expected but he did as he was told and for that she was grateful. She couldn’t put up with him today.

***

“I don’t think it’s a good idea, Thea,” said Felicity. It was Saturday; Liv had a sleepover at Oliver’s so she went shopping with Thea and Laurel to take her mind off of things.

“Well, I for once think it’s a great idea,” assured her Laurel.

“Oh, come on! I didn’t date for the last three years! I wouldn’t even know where to start!” She so didn’t want to do this. She was happy. She didn’t need a man! And she was worried what would Liv say if she found a boyfriend; especially now when Liv had her daddy and he was perfect in her eyes.

“It would be good for you,” pressured Thea.

Felicity shook her head. “No, it wouldn’t. Do you think there is a guy who would go on a date with me? Everybody knows I’m mother of Oliver Queen’s love child. No one is going to take me seriously.”

“Don’t you think you’re exaggerating a bit?” asked her step sister.

“No, I don’t! Guys in the office are disappearing the moment I walk in. They are afraid what would their precious mayor say or do if they as much as look at me!”

“Tell you what,” said Laurel with a wink. “Tommy has a friend who’s coming for a visit next week. Why don’t you go with him for dinner? He lives in Texas so I don’t think he knows anything about you.”

Felicity rolled her eyes. “You’re going to bug me about this until I say yes, aren’t you?”

Both women nodded with grins on their faces.

Felicity sighed. “Ok, fine. I will go for a dinner with him,” she held up her index finger, “but only because I don’t want to listen to this any longer!”

***

“You have a boyfriend?” asked Oliver out of nowhere when he was dropping Liv off a week later.

Felicity blinked. That was quick. She hoped he wouldn’t know so soon but since the cat was already out of bag, she answered him honestly: “No.” She didn’t lie per se. She just happened to have a friend who was a guy with who she went for dinner – twice.

Oliver’s eyes narrowed. “They saw you kiss a guy in front of your building!”

“Yes, it was a goodbye kiss on a _cheek_!”

“You wouldn’t kiss me on a cheek if we went out,” he reminded her.

Felicity laughed. It was getting ridiculous. “I remember kissing you in front of dozens of people when you proposed.”

“But we were engaged!”

She sighed. “Why does it bother you so much? I have a right to go out with other guys. We’re not together anymore so stop behaving like a jealous boyfriend!”

“Did you think what it would do to Liv if she found out?”

This was it. He pushed her too far. She narrowed her eyes. “I think about Liv all the time! I wouldn’t go out with him if I didn’t think he was a good guy!” she assured him. “I did a background check on him, don’t worry,” she added bitterly.

“I didn’t mean -.”

She interrupted him. “I’m sure you didn’t.” She looked him straight in the eyes and it wasn’t the best idea because he looked hurt by her assumptions. “Now, can you tell me why you barged into my office in the middle of a day? Don’t you have enough work in City hall?”

“I wanted to talk to you about Christmas and Liv’s birthday.”

Felicity frowned. “What is here to talk about? Christmas is two months away and Liv’s birthday almost three.”

“Well, I thought we could spend Christmas together. It would be easier for us that way. I’ve got a guest room you can use.”

Felicity wanted to say no; she really did but couldn’t bring herself to do so. He was probably doing it so Liv could enjoy Christmas with both of her parents. Felicity would feel bad if she didn’t let him have this. But it still didn’t mean that she was happy about his plan. “I need to think about it, Oliver. It’s not that I don’t want you to spend Christmas with your daughter but I just need time,” she said. She was sure she would tell him yes but she couldn’t do it just yet.

“Take as much time as you need.”

“Thanks. Um...and what about Liv’s birthday?”

Oliver smiled. “Oh, yes. I would like to throw her a party.”

She stared at him for a minute. “You? A party? Don’t you mean Thea wants to throw her a party?” Oliver’s sister begged her for the opportunity to throw Liv a birthday party every year.

“She might help a little but no. I want to do it for her.” He gave her a pleading look.

Felicity sighed; she didn’t have strength for this fight. “Ok, fine, you can throw Liv a party. But _please_ don’t pick a date without consulting me, ok?”

“I won’t,” he assured her with a grin.

***

Felicity ran into the emergency department. “Where is she?” she asked Oliver when she saw him.

“Felicity, calm down, Liv’s ok.”

Her eyes widened. Was he kidding her? Her baby girl was rushed into the ED and he said that she was ok? “How can she be ok when she’s in a hospital?”

“She has broken wrist but she’s going to be fine,” he assured her.

“I want to see her!” she demanded.

Oliver nodded and led the way to the room in which her daughter sobbed.

“Mummy!” cried out Liv when she saw her and stretched out her arms.

Felicity ran to her and hugged her tightly. “Sweetheart!” She kissed her daughter’s face few times. “Are you ok?” she asked although she knew the answer. Of course, Liv wasn’t ok.

“My hand hurts,” said Liv in a small voice.

“I know, sweetie, I know.” Felicity shot Oliver a look. “I need to talk to your dad. We will be just a minute, ok?”

Liv nodded.

Felicity kissed her one more time and let go of her. She didn’t say anything to Oliver, just marched to the quite hallway where they wouldn’t be overheard. 

“It was an accident, Felicity,” he said the moment she turned to face him.

Felicity frowned. “I saw the footage!” she exclaimed. “It _wasn’t_ an accident! They did it on purpose! So I’m curious. Who has a problem with mayor Queen?”

Oliver squirmed and sighed. “It wasn’t mayor Queen they were after. It was,” he looked around before whispering, “the other guy.”

“You want to tell me there’s someone out there who knows you’re the Green Arrow? How could you let that happen; especially now when you told the press about Liv?”

“I’m sorry, Felicity.”

She shook her head. “Sorry, won’t cut it! I don’t want you anywhere near my daughter until you fix it!”

“You can’t do that to me! She’s my daughter, too!”

Felicity pressed her lips together. “Mhm, and look where that got her. She’s got a broken wrist, Oliver!” she reminded him.

He touched her arm. “Felicity, please, don’t do that. It’s almost Christmas and she’s so excited about it. Don’t take it from her.”

She took a step back, just to get away from his touch because she needed to stay strong, to focus. “We can still have Christmas as planned but you won’t have her for a day until you sort this mess out! You can still see her but only if I’m there too,” she said to soften the blow.

“Felicity.”

“No, Oliver! I’m her mother and I have to protect her when you can’t! She was right next to you but you still let her to be pushed off the stairs! She’s not safe with you.” Felicity knew she wasn’t fair. It could happen to anybody but that fall made her heart stop and when she saw that Liv wasn’t moving at the bottom of the stairs she thought of the worst.

“She’s safer with me than with you,” he snapped.

Felicity’s eyes narrowed but she didn’t say a word. She just turned on her heel and went to see her daughter because if she didn’t she would say something which she would regret later.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure about this chapter. I mean it could be worse but it didn't go as I planned. Let's hope that the next one (which I can't wait to write but I'm also scared about it) is going to be better.
> 
> Once again, no beta, all mistakes are mine.

As Christmas approached Felicity became really nervous. She let Oliver and Liv meet couple times every week and Liv seemed fine with it but Oliver didn’t. He’s been grumpy and tried to persuade her that Liv was safe with him. When it started to annoy her, Felicity told him that he should be happy for the time he could spend with their daughter because she could take it away from him. That thread seemed to work.

Felicity pulled her car into a parking lot and got out to help Liv who didn’t seem as thrilled as she should be. “What’s wrong, pumpkin?”

Liv sighed. “Could we spend Christmas with nana and granddad?”

Felicity blinked and then frowned. “Why? I thought you wanted to be with daddy on Christmas.”

Her daughter shook her head. “I want to be safe with nana and granddad.”

Did Liv hear her argument with Oliver? It shouldn’t be possible because she made sure that Liv wasn’t anywhere near them when it happened. “What are you talking about?”

“Nana said to granddad that it’s not safe for us to be with daddy.”

Felicity closed her eyes for a second. She could imagine what Liv heard at her mum’s. Donna told her what she thought about this situation plenty of times. She loved Oliver like a son, sure, but she wanted her daughter and granddaughter out of harm’s way. “Sweetie, we are going to be safe with daddy. He will make sure of that.”

The little girl watched her for a while before throwing herself into her arms. “I love you, mummy.”

“I love you, too,” she assured her with tears in her eyes.

***

That evening, when they put their excited daughter to bed, Oliver opened bottle of Felicity’s favourite wine and sat on a sofa.

“Liv’s been worried that we wouldn’t be safe with you,” said Felicity quietly. She wasn’t sure if she should tell him but at the end it didn’t really matter because she couldn’t picture that her mother would keep quiet about it.

Oliver sighed and stared into the fire he put on in fireplace. “I know. Quentin told me she heard them.”

“I told her that you would make sure we were safe. But Oliver...please, tell me I wasn’t wrong.”

He looked straight into her eyes. “You are safe with me. I can promise you that.”

She smiled a small smile. “Thank you.” She looked at the Christmas tree in the corner that almost touched the ceiling. “Not just for the reassuring but for all the effort you put in this Christmas. And I’m sorry I robbed you of the years you could’ve spent with Liv.”

Oliver shook his head. “It’s ok. I can’t really blame you for that. I get why you did it. And to be fair, I’m the last person who can be upset about you keeping a secret. It was just a shock.” He paused. “I mean I would love to see her first smile, her first steps and all that but I get it. I just hope I will get to spend more time with her now.”

Felicity swallowed. She thought about it; she thought about it hard. “Well, that’s something I can promise _you_. I want her to know you better. I want you to know _her_. I want you two have a relationship.” She shook her head. “I won’t stand in your way but I need you to know that I’m not risking her life. She is my daughter and I have to protect her. She’s my everything.”

“I would rather die than to put her in danger,” he promised.

She believed him. She knew him well enough to know that he was serious. “Can I ask you a question?” she asked after a few moments.

“Shoot away.”

“Why didn’t you come after me when I left?” Her voice wasn’t louder than a whisper.

Oliver sighed. “I wanted to give you that time alone you asked me for.”

Felicity shook her head. “Ok, I know I asked you that but I also asked you to come when you are ready to be honest with me.” She swallowed through the knot that formed in her throat. “Does it mean that you’re still not ready to be honest about everything?”

Instead of answering he asked: “Are you?”

She frowned, confused. “Am I what?”

“Are you ready for my honesty? Are you ready to know the person I was? A _murderer_?”

Felicity touched his upper arm gently. “I’ve been ready the moment I started to work with the Green Arrow,” she whispered. It was true. She never wanted anything else than for Oliver to be honest with her.

Oliver stared at her for a minute. “When I finally realized what I’ve done I wanted to run after you but I had no idea what to do to get you back.” He shook his head. “I screwed up.”

“That makes two of us.” Felicity gave him a bitter smile.

“No, you were just protecting our daughter. I get that now. But I,” he paused, “I was protecting just myself.”

Felicity wished it was that easy but knew better. “You were protecting William. I should’ve given you a chance.”

Oliver leaned closer to her and stroked her cheek. “You could give me one now,” he whispered. There was hunger in his eyes.

Felicity bit her lip. “I can’t. I’m with Trevor,” she reminded him but it was breaking her heart. Not only because she’s been waiting for this for years but because she knew that Trevor wasn’t the one; as a matter of fact she was pretty sure that he wasn’t even a good guy.

Oliver blinked as if she slapped him, cleared his throat and pulled away from her. “I know. Sorry.”

“No, Oliver, please!” she pleaded. She couldn’t bear to see him like this. It wasn’t right. She loved him. She loved him so much for so many years and this just hurt.

He shook his head and gave her a sad smile. “It’s ok, Felicity. As long as you like him and he likes you and Liv then I’m ok with it. I got carried away.”

Felicity watched him with narrowed eyes. She was wondering if he lied so she didn’t feel bad or not. She also wanted to tell him what she knew about Trevor but she couldn’t. She wasn’t sure if her suspicions were right and it would end badly if Oliver knew. “I’m sorry,” she apologized. Was it an apology for not giving him chance or for lying about Trevor? She didn’t know but it didn’t matter at the moment. She felt horrible anyway.

***

The following morning Liv came into Felicity’s bedroom later than she expected. It was unusual. Not that Felicity minded but it made her think if her little girl was alright.

“Are you ok, sweetie?” asked Felicity when Liv climbed into her bed and hugged her.

“Yeah.”

“Are you sure? It’s Christmas.” She shrugged and smiled.

Pink coloured Liv’s cheeks. “I didn’t want to wake you up early.”

“Why not?”

“I didn’t want daddy to be upset,” she whispered.

Felicity frowned. “Why do you think daddy would be upset? I think he’s more excited about Christmas than you are.” She winked and knew that she was right. After their talk last night Felicity and Oliver talked about the next day and it was clear that he couldn’t wait to see Liv unwrapping her presents. Felicity even asked him if he got her bow and arrow. It was meant to be a joke but Oliver got all flustered. Apparently he thought about giving her bow and arrow but then decided against it; for now.

Liv’s eyes grew wide. “He is?”

Felicity chuckled. “Yeah, he is. Why don’t you go find him and I will be downstairs in a minute?”

“Okay!” Liv jumped off the bed and ran out the door.

A little while later, Felicity heard Liv squealing and Oliver laughing happily. She felt as if an icy fist squeezed her heart. She thought back to last year’s Christmas. Liv was excited but she wasn’t this happy. Felicity was well aware of the fact that it was her fault. Liv could’ve had happy Christmas but Felicity robbed her of it because she’s been too damn stubborn.

She sighed and got up. She needed to get dressed and go down. She was pretty sure there would be enough time during the day to beat herself up for what she’s done.

***

Later that day Liv got dressed in dark green dress – one of Oliver’s presents – and waited impatiently by the door.

“Liv, sweetie, come and sit down,” said Felicity with a smile.

Her expression faltered. “But I want to open the door.”

Oliver chuckled. “You can still do that but nobody’s coming for another half an hour.”

“Okay.” Corners of Liv’s mouth turned down but she made her way to the living room and sat on a sofa.

“She’s really excited,” whispered Felicity in Oliver’s direction. “It’s thanks to you. She was worried in a morning that she would make you upset.”

Oliver looked at their daughter and then back at her. “Yeah, I know, she told me.”

Felicity put her hand on his forearm. “It’s ok, Oliver. It’s not your fault.”

He smiled a sad smile. “At least a part of it is my fault. I’m the reason why she got hurt.”

“Oliver, I didn’t mean that. I was worried and upset and I didn’t handle it right. I’m really sorry for that.”

Oliver wanted to argue about that with her, she saw it in his eyes, but he didn’t get a chance to do it because the doorbell rang in that very moment. Overly excited Liv ran to the door and Oliver’s place got filled with their family and friends.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took me so long to update but life happened. As always no beta.

Felicity cursed and stared at the screen of her computer. She just got the proof that Trevor was the one who was after Oliver. He was also the guy who hurt her daughter. Nothing in her search implied that he knew about her connection to the Green Arrow. Well, obviously he knew there was a connection but it looked like that it put her together only with Oliver not the Green Arrow. Felicity knew that that was a good thing because she could help to take him down; although she wasn’t sure how to do that. And then there was the fact that she had to let Oliver know about her discovery. She didn’t look forward to it. Oliver was likely going to hit the roof. 

Felicity sighed. She couldn’t believe that she was going to be in a middle of this. It wasn’t good; it wasn’t good _at all_. “That’s what happens when you get involve with the vigilante,” she told herself quietly.

She bit her bottom lip while eyeing her phone. She should call Oliver right now but he was at work and she didn’t want to bother him. It wasn’t like he could do something about it as a mayor. No, it would be better if she waited until tonight. She would pay him a visit at the lair and tell him everything.

Felicity knew she couldn’t talk to Oliver right now but she needed to talk to _someone_ so she picked up the phone and dialled a familiar number.

It didn’t take long before she heard Thea’s voice. “Well, hello. I was worried that you wouldn’t call.”

Felicity smiled. She promised Thea that they would get together for a coffee or lunch after New Year but before Liv’s birthday and she didn’t yet. Although it seemed like a good thing at this moment as she would kill two birds with one stone. “I know, sorry. Do you think we could meet today? I need to talk to you about something and it can’t wait.”

“Of course. Should I pick you up at work in about...let’s say...ten minutes?”

Felicity frowned. Ten minutes? Thea must be someplace near because it would take her at least twice as much from City Hall even without traffic. “Where are you?” she asked suspiciously.

Thea laughed a short laugh. “Picking up decoration for Liv’s party.”

“Now it makes sense. Ok, I will wait for you in a lobby in ten minutes.”

“Sure thing. See you soon.”

Felicity shook her head with a smile and slid her phone into her purse. She always loved Thea; not only because she helped her to keep Liv a secret in front of Oliver even though she wasn’t happy about it but because she would do anything for her family and Felicity and Liv were lucky to be part of said family.

Felicity logged off her computer, grabbed her purse and made her way to the lobby. Thea was already waiting for her with a grin that almost split her face in half.

“I thought you said ten minutes,” reminded her Felicity, her eyebrows raised.

Thea shrugged. “I was literally around the corner.”

That was enough of an answer for Felicity. She didn’t need to know everything. She wanted to know about Liv’s party but Thea warned her that she wasn’t telling her so Felicity didn’t ask any more questions. “Where should we go for lunch? I’m starving.”

“How about that Italian place nearby?”

“Sounds good.”

Thanks to Thea’s name they didn’t have to wait for longer than necessary, which really meant that they were seated practically the moment they set a foot in and the only wait was for their food. And even that wasn’t extra long. Felicity felt bad for other costumers who had to wait but she didn’t protest today. Any other day she would convince Thea not to use her name to get it faster but not today; she had too much on her plate today.

“So what did you want to talk about?” asked Thea when their food arrived and their waiter excused himself.

Felicity stuck her fork into her pasta, suddenly not hungry. She made a face and looked at the younger woman. “I know who hurt Liv.”

Thea’s eyes widened. “Really?”

She nodded. “It was Trevor,” she whispered as if not whispering it would make it more real. But it couldn’t get any more real.

“What?” asked Oliver’s sister in disbelief.

Felicity just shrugged. “I found out only an hour ago. Well, I mean I had a suspicion but I wasn’t sure. But now I’m sure and I don’t know what to do. That’s not true I know what I have to do. I’m going to tell Oliver tonight but I’m scared! What if he blames me? What if he doesn’t believe that I didn’t know since the beginning? He doesn’t really know me anymore and -.”

Thea put her hand over Felicity’s. “Felicity, calm down. Ollie won’t think you knew or blame you. He’s not a monster and he loves you and Liv. But you need to tell him ASAP. Why did you call me and not him?”

“I thought about it,” she admitted. “But it’s a middle of the day and he’s busy and I know it can wait until tonight.”

“How?” The younger woman furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

Felicity sucked in a shaky breath. “Trevor’s in Texas. He’s coming back tomorrow afternoon.”

“Are you sure about that? What if he comes back early?”

She sighed. Was Thea really questioning her? Although she couldn’t really blame her. “He’s not. And even if he is I’ve got facial recognition on him on every single camera I could hack.”

“What if he knows about it? What if he finds a way to Star City without being on cameras?”

“He won’t, that much I can promise you! Not even his best hacker could work around my codes.”

“Felicity, I know you don’t want to hear this but there are ways for people to get in Star City without being recognised and not even your skills can stop them,” said Thea carefully.

Felicity shook her head. “He would have to come out at some point so it doesn’t matter. We will have enough time to get to him before he gets to us.”

Thea watched her for a few moments. “I hope you’re right because I don’t want anything to happen to you or Liv or Ollie. You are the only family I’ve got left.”

“You’re not going to lose us,” promised Felicity and prayed that she was right.

***

The moment Donna arrived at her place, Felicity left for the lair. She was still afraid of Oliver’s reaction but she somehow came to peace with it. There wasn’t much she could do about it anyway.

Oliver seemed surprised by her appearance at the lair. She could tell from his attire that he was about to head out. The rest of the team wasn’t anywhere near except Quentin who sat behind the computers. Felicity knew there was something big going on if Oliver needed Curtis out in the open.

“I’m sorry. Is it a bad time? I can come another day. Or I can wait until you come back.”

Oliver shook his head. “No, it’s ok.” He turned around to Lance. “Could you let the team know that I will be late?”

_Or not coming at all_ , thought Felicity grimly. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“Anytime.” He led her to further corner of the lair. “Why did you come?”

She took a deep breath. “First I need you to know that I didn’t have any idea about it. You need to believe me. If I did I would tell you straight away. I did the background check and it seemed fine otherwise I wouldn’t be with him I swear.”

Oliver put his hands on her shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes. “You’re babbling. What’s going on?”

She inhaled and exhaled. “I know who’s after you.” She looked down. “It’s Trevor.”

He was quiet for a few moments. “Your boyfriend Trevor?”

Felicity nodded.

“He’s the one who hurt Liv?”

“Yes,” she said and her eyes filled with tears.

“How long have you know?”

“I found the evidence today.” She looked up carefully but couldn’t read his expression.

“That doesn’t answer the question,” he pointed out calmly.

Felicity swallowed through the lump in her throat. “Since Christmas.”

“And you’re telling me _now_? Can you imagine how many times since then he could have hurt someone? _Kill_ someone? You? Liv? Thea? Anyone on the team? Tommy? What were you thinking?”

“I didn’t know for sure! What if it turned out that he was innocent?”

Oliver made a face. “No one’s innocent.”

She rolled her eyes. She should have known that he would say something like that and it bugged her because that wasn’t Oliver she used to know. But she was pretty sure that it was her doing, this new Oliver.

“Oliver, I’m sorry but I couldn’t let you go all _grrr_ on him if he didn’t do anything.”

He shook her, letting the rage to take control over him. “But he did! Felicity, our daughter ended up at the hospital because of him!” he reminded her.

“No! She ended up at the hospital because you are the Green Arrow! We would never have to have this discussion if you were _just_ Oliver Queen!” She paused. “But you’re not and I love you regardless but you can’t put the blame on me for this. You were the one who wanted to tell everybody that Liv’s your daughter. And I know you had all the right to do so so I can’t be mad forever but I knew that sooner or later something’s going to happen.” She didn’t use her loud voice. She didn’t have to because her words said everything without her yelling.

He let go of her shoulders and took a step back. “You’re not being fair, Felicity. It wouldn’t be safe in Star City if not for the Green Arrow.”

Felicity snorted. “How safe is it when a two year old can get hurt because of her father?” She knew, deep down, that she wasn’t fair but she couldn’t help herself at that moment. She wasn’t the innocent in all this and she knew it but hearing it from Oliver? It was just too much.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...this happened and I'm not really sure how I feel about it but if I didn't post it I would probably never post it so here you go.
> 
> As always no beta, all mistakes are mine (and I will admit I struggled with some sentences =o/ ).

It was almost midnight when Oliver sat down at the lair and had time to think about what Felicity told him. They were both right. If he wasn’t the Green Arrow then Liv would be safe. But if Felicity told him about her suspicions earlier he could have done better job in protecting their daughter and everybody else. It was pure luck that nothing happened to anybody.

“You okay?” asked Dig who sat into the chair next to him.

Oliver looked at him and nodded.

“What happened between you and Felicity today?”

Oliver smiled. He should have known that Dig picked up on all of the tension. “The usual. She wanted to be right, I wanted to be right. And in the middle of an argument I didn’t even tell her that I love her too.” He shrugged. He heard everything she told him. Every. Single. Word.

John raised his eyebrows. “She told you she loved you?”

“She told me she _loves_ me. Present tense.” He nodded.

“Wow. What have you done to make her say that?” asked amused John.

He shrugged again. “It seems that it’s enough to be Oliver Queen _and_ the Green Arrow for her to love me.” He paused. “Actually no, but it’s complicated. Let’s just say that she loves me regardless of who I’m.”

“Well, it shouldn’t be a surprise; we already knew that, didn’t we?”

Oliver sighed. “I know. I just wish I told her I love her too. I know it wouldn’t make any difference but what if I never get a chance to do that? What if Trevor finds out that she knows who I really am and kills her and she will never know?”

“Believe me, she knows,” assured him Dig.

“How can you be so sure? We’ve been arguing every time we’ve seen each other.” Oliver didn’t like how things were between them but he couldn’t help it. He was powerless if Felicity didn’t want to put an effort in their relationship.

“Felicity talked to Lyla,” he confessed.

***

The doorbell rang at Felicity’s place the following afternoon and she knew who it was; even before she opened the door. She knew he arrived to his hotel earlier that day and it was inevitable that he came for a visit.

Felicity took a deep breath and plastered a smile on her lips. “Hi Trevor.”

He smiled at her. “Hello beautiful.” He drew her closer to him and kissed her lightly. “How are you?”

Felicity was taken aback. It was the first time Trevor’s been so straightforward and she wasn’t sure how to feel about it. She was suspicious that he was up to something but didn’t have any proof. “Um...fine. How are you?”

“Great! Is Liv home?” he asked while looking around.

“She’s playing in her bedroom. Why?” she asked, uneasiness taking hold of her.

“I’ve got a present for her as I promised,” he winked and shook a bag he held in his hand.

“Oh. I will call her.”

But there was no need for that as Liv just came running out of her bedroom and straight for Trevor’s arms. He caught her and picked her up. If Felicity didn’t know better she would think it was a picture of perfectly happy family.

“Thank you!” Liv kissed Trevor on the cheek when he gave her the bag. Then she sat on the floor and took out a teddy bear in pink tutu with pink bow on its head. “It’s so cute! Mummy, look!” Liv held the teddy bear up for her to see.

Felicity smiled. “It is cute,” she admitted. _And a perfect size to hide a camera in_ , she thought. She was well aware that she might be paranoid but couldn’t help herself. She had this weird feeling and couldn’t shake it off. If the past taught her something then it was to always trust her feelings. It paid off with Oliver, her father and countless other people so why it should be any different with Trevor? He was just another bad guy and he wanted to hurt her daughter’s father. Felicity didn’t really have a choice than to be paranoid and suspicious. 

“My pleasure,” assured Trevor.

“Can I go and play in my room, Mummy?” the little girl asked.

Felicity knew that she couldn’t possibly tell Liv no if she didn’t want to look like a lunatic so she just smiled and nodded. The only thing she could do with Trevor by her side was to hope that she was wrong. But she didn’t trust him and sent a quick text to Curtis who’s been the only one that could help her. Well, maybe John would be able to help as well but Lyla’s been pregnant and she didn’t want to take him away from her. Besides Curtis had exactly what she needed or at least knew where to find it.

Trevor pulled Felicity gently against him again and pressed his lips to hers. “I missed you,” he confessed.

“It’s been only couple of days,” she reminded him.

He shrugged. “I know but still.” He took a breath. “I think about moving to the city.”

Felicity blinked. It was the first time she heard about it. “Moving? Here?”

Trevor nodded with a huge grin. “It would be great to be closer to you and Tommy, don’t you think?”

Her jaw dropped. If she thought that it was great? Hell, no! It would mean that the danger would be closer to them and she definitely didn’t want that. “Yeah, great,” she mumbled.

He tilted his head. “What’s wrong? You don’t want me here?”

She shook her head and smiled. “No, it’s not that. You just took me by surprise, that’s all.”

***

In the evening, an hour after Trevor left, Curtis rang Felicity’s doorbell and she let him in. She couldn’t wait for this to be done. To her surprise Curtis wasn’t alone.

“Oliver,” she breathed out.

“I didn’t tell him anything!” assured Curtis hurriedly.

Oliver frowned at Curtis before turning to face Felicity. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” she said too quickly.

“Felicity!”

She rolled her eyes. “I will tell you when I and Curtis take care of something. It will be just a minute.”

“Daddy!” Liv came running from her bedroom with her new teddy bear in hand. “Look, what Trevor gave me! Isn’t she cute?”

He sent Felicity questioning look and she just shrugged. What else could she do when there was a possibility that they were watched? She turned to Curtis and nodded discreetly while her daughter chatted to Oliver.

Curtis then did his magic and whispered. “You were right. But there’s no use of the camera now,” he winked and held out the device for a moment before putting it back to the pocket of his jeans.

“Thank you!” She smiled at him. 

“Any time,” he assured her. “Well, I will be going. Paul’s waiting with dinner.” He let himself out.

“What was that?” asked Oliver when he sent Liv to watch TV.

Felicity gave him a look. “There was a camera in that teddy bear. Well, it’s still there it just isn’t working anymore.”

His eyes widened. “What?”

She shrugged. “You heard me!” she snapped. “Sorry Oliver. Trevor came earlier, unannounced I might add, and gave Liv the bear and I knew something was wrong because...well, let’s say that I just knew. So I texted Curtis because I wouldn’t want to be watched even if you weren’t you know who. And I definitely don’t want my daughter to be watched!”

He watched her for a minute, not saying anything. “What happens when he finds out that the camera isn’t working? He’s going to come up with some other way.” It was bound to happen, they both knew it.

“I don’t know but I will take care of that too.” She paused. “Or maybe the Green Arrow could take care of that before it happens.”

Oliver sighed. “But I will need your help,” he whispered.

Felicity smiled. She counted on that. “I’m ready to help you.”

***

It’s been week since Felicity promised her help but there was no success and it frustrated her. They were so close to catching Trevor but he was still slipping through their fingers.

Felicity made frustrated noise and started typing.

“Are you ok?” asked Oliver who just finished his workout, wiping the sweat in a towel.

Felicity looked up and her jaw dropped. She couldn’t help herself, he was so damn hot. She gave herself couple moments to just stare. _Unnecessary distraction, Felicity!_ “Fine. I thought I had him.” She shook her head. “It wasn’t him.”

“You should take a break. Go home, be with Liv.”

She looked at him as if he was just grew another head. “Are you crazy? I promised to help you,” she reminded him.

Oliver nodded. “And that’s what you’re doing but you clearly need a break.” He walked to her, put his palms on her shoulders and looked straight into her eyes. “We are going to catch him,” he assured her.

Felicity sighed. “I know, you’re good in what you do but I feel like I’m useless.”

“But you’re not. You’re doing what you can and it _will_ pay off, I promise.”

She gave him a small smile. “What if it won’t? What if we lose?” She didn’t want to be pessimistic but there were lives of everybody she loved in stake.

“I don’t plan on losing.” He paused and cupped her face. “I’m not going to lose you or Liv or anybody else. Ever!” He took a deep breath. “I love you, Felicity,” he whispered.

Her eyes grew wider. She didn’t expect this. What was she supposed to do now? Tell him back? Not to tell him back? She did tell him how she felt during their last argument and he ignored it. “Now? You decided to tell me now?”

Oliver lifted his shoulder and smiled. “It seems like a good time to tell you.”

“Well, it’s not. Come on, Oliver! We are in the middle of catching the bad guy, _my boyfriend_. That’s definitely not what I would call _a good time_.”

“Ok, so my timing is a little off,” he admitted.

Felicity raised her eyebrows. “A little?”

He chuckled. “Ok, a lot. But Felicity...I had to tell you and I wanted to do it before it’s too late.”

She spread out her hands. “What do you want me to do about it?”

Oliver pretended to think; she knew he was pretending because there was a glint in his eyes. “We could go for dinner,” he suggested with a shrug.

“Yeah, because that worked great for us before,” she exclaimed, irony clear in her voice.

“At least it would be a start,” he said with a pained expression.

Felicity sighed and pressed her fingers to her temples. “I’m sorry, Oliver. I didn’t mean it like that. I just don’t think right now is the right time for us.”

“There’s never going to be the right time.”

She chewed on the left side of her bottom lip. Oliver was right and she would love nothing more than to give him – give _them_ – another chance. They deserved it and the one who deserved it most of all was their daughter. They should at least try it. Unfortunately, Felicity couldn’t just give up; she was convinced that it would be the worst decision ever. “I need time to think it over,” she whispered as if she was afraid of the impact her words had.

Oliver touched her hand gently. “Take all the time you need. I will be waiting,” he assured her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This could've been the last chapter with Trevor but then I decided against it as it just didn't feel right. I promise I will get rid of Trevor but it will take some time. 
> 
> Oh, and there might be some romance in the next chapter because I think this story needs it and it's just not me to write a non-romantic story. =o)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I call this THE HAPPY CHAPTER and I love it. I enjoyed writing this so much.
> 
> As usual, no beta (but if anybody wants that "job" just let me know ;o) ).

It took Felicity four days before she was ready to give Oliver the answer he wanted. But first she had some questions and demands.

She turned her back to the computer and looked his way. This was it. She stood up and walked to his workplace where he was making arrows. “When are you going to introduce William to Liv?” she asked, loud enough for him to hear. She knew for a fact that William has been staying with Oliver every other weekend but never when he was supposed to have Liv.

Oliver stopped in what he was doing and looked up at her. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “Why do you ask?”

Felicity shrugged. “I think they deserve to know each other.” 

He looked surprised. “I didn’t think you would want them to meet.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s the reason why you left and never told me about Liv.”

She shook her head. “No, Oliver, _you_ are the reason why I left.” She waved her hand in the air in dismissive gesture. “But that’s not the point. What I was _trying_ to say with my question is that I would love to go to dinner with you but first I would love to spend the day with you, William and Liv.” She paused. “And once the kids are in bed we could make a dinner and maybe watch a movie after that?”

He stared at her as if he didn’t hear a word she said. 

“Oliver?” she tried after a few moments.

He blinked and quickly answered: “Yes! Anything you want. I will call Samantha in the morning and arrange for William to come for the weekend.”

Felicity smiled at him. “Thank you.” She realized that if they were supposed to work she – and Liv - would have to meet and get on well with William. Felicity didn’t have a problem with it even though people might think something else. This was really about her daughter because she still didn’t know she had older half brother and it bothered Felicity, a lot. She hoped that Oliver would introduce them but it didn’t seem like he wanted to do that so she had to force him to it. And although it didn’t feel right it was necessary.

***

Oliver stayed true to his word and called Samantha which meant that Felicity and Liv would be spending the following Saturday with them. Oliver and Felicity even agreed on a sleepover to make things easier for Felicity and Liv. Oliver persuaded her by saying that Liv didn’t need to be dragged through half of the City to get into a bed and Felicity just gave up. She didn’t let him know that she liked his plan; he didn’t need to know everything.

Felicity and Liv arrived to Oliver’s place at nine and they didn’t get a chance to even get out of the car before being greeted by grinning Oliver and shyly smiling William.

Once she locked the car Felicity knelt down in front of her daughter. “We would like you to meet someone, pumpkin,” she said with a smile

Liv looked at her with huge expecting blue eyes.

“This,” she motioned to the boy next to Oliver, “is your big brother William.”

Liv’s eyes moved between her and William and blinked couple of times. “Brother?” she repeated.

Felicity nodded. “Yes, daddy’s son.”

“Daddy’s?”

“Yes, William was born long before daddy met mummy and William lives with his mum in Central City.”

Liv frowned. “We lived in Central City,” she reminded, confused.

“That’s true,” confirmed Felicity and turned her head to Oliver, pleading look in her eyes.

Oliver took a step in their direction; William right next to him. “Do you want to say hello to your little sister, Will?”

“Sure,” he muttered and walked right to her. “Hi Liv, I’m William but you can call me Will.” He flashed her charming smile, same smile his father had.

Liv tilted her head and narrowed her eyes before smiling up at him. “Hi, my name is Liv.” She reached for his hand and pulled him by the door of their father’s place.

“Olivia actually,” mumbled Felicity but Oliver was the only one who could hear her.

Oliver grabbed their bags and for once Felicity didn’t try to fight him. “After you,” he said as he held the door open for her.

“Thank you.”

“Did you have breakfast?” he asked when he put the bags on the side.

“Yeah.”

Oliver’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

She shrugged. “Liv had cereals and I had my coffee, that’s really the only thing I need to get me going.”

“You should eat something.”

She chuckled. “Come on, Oliver, you know me. I don’t eat breakfast before ten.” She glanced at the clock on the wall. “So I still have an hour.”

He frowned and that frown reminded her so much of Liv. “Did you eat like this when you were pregnant?”

Felicity sighed. “No. I ate all the time when I was pregnant. You wouldn’t believe what an appetite Liv had.” She paused for a moment. “Still has. Sometimes I wonder how she can be so skinny when she eats so much.”

Oliver smiled. “Good genes I guess.”

“Probably. Maybe I should thank my lucky stars that you’re her father.”

He made a face. “It’s not much of a win.”

Felicity gently touched his arm. “It is a win. She couldn’t have wished for a better father,” she assured him and she meant it. She might not agree with everything Oliver did but he was an amazing father; that much she knew. “What time we need to leave?” she changed the subject.

“Half past ten so you will have time to have breakfast.” He winked and she knew why. It was clear to him that she would go without breakfast if he didn’t make sure she ate.

Felicity just rolled her eyes but admitted to herself that she was looking forward having a breakfast Oliver prepared. She missed his cooking.

***

“Daddy?” asked Liv once Oliver finished reading her a story and tucked her in bed.

“Yes, pumpkin?”

“What fairytale is most about you and mummy?”

Felicity stood in the doorframe and stilled. She was curious what Oliver’s answer would be.

He looked at Felicity over his shoulder and then back to Liv. “Probably Cinderella.”

“Seriously?” she whispered, surprised. Cinderella? She wasn’t some poor girl who needed saving. No, she was an independent woman who didn’t need a man to live her life fully.

“Oh, that’s my favourite fairytale!” exclaimed Liv, not paying attention to her mother.

Oliver glanced Felicity’s way and winked.

She rolled her eyes, she should have known.

“Is it?” he faked a surprise for Liv’s sake. “I didn’t know.” He leaned closer to their daughter. “Do you want to know a secret?

Liv nodded enthusiastically.

“Cinderella’s my favourite too,” he assured her, whispering.

Liv giggled. “I love you, daddy.”

“I love you too, pumpkin.”

“Mummy?” called Liv and looked at Felicity with a smile.

“Hm?”

“I want to give you a goodnight kiss.” She pursed her lips.

Felicity chuckled and made her way to Liv’s bed. “Did you enjoy today?” she asked before leaning down and giving her a kiss. They took the kids for a movie and swimming. It was nice and relaxing day and both of the kids seemed to enjoy it. 

“Yes! William’s my best friend,” the little girl announced proudly.

“I thought Sara was your best friend.”

Liv frowned. “Well, Sara is my girl best friend and William is my boy best friend.” She looked really proud with herself for coming up with a solution. “Is that allowed?” she was wondering quietly.

“Of course, it is, sweetie. You can have as many best friends as you like,” assured her Felicity because it was what she believed in. Why should anybody have only one best friend? Sure, some friends were better than others but it didn’t mean that she couldn’t have two or more best friends.

The little girl put her arms around Felicity’s neck. “I love you, mummy.”

“I love you too,” whispered Felicity and kissed her again. “Good night. Sweet dreams.”

***

“I feel bad for banishing William from the living room,” confessed Felicity over their candlelit dinner she prepared – _helped to prepare_ – with Oliver.

He smiled at her over the brim of his wineglass. “Why? He’s got everything he could possibly need there; TV, Playstation, tablet, even laptop.” He shrugged after taking a sip of the wine.

“He’s got all that in his bedroom?” she asked incredulously.

Oliver’s eyebrows shot up. “Is that judgement I hear?”

“Yes! Oliver, he’s twelve, he doesn’t need all that stuff.” She narrowed her eyes. “If you ever try to get all of that for Liv then we will have a problem.”

“As if you don’t let her play with your tablet or your phone.”

“I’m not denying that _but_ she doesn’t have her own tablet or TV or whatever and she’s not getting any of it anytime soon,” assured him Felicity with a glare.

Oliver put his hands in front of him as if to protect himself. “Okay, I promise I won’t buy her anything without consulting you.”

She smiled, satisfied. “Thank you.”

“Well, you are her mother and I need to respect your wishes.”

“Is it hard for you?” she asked even though she knew the answer to her question.

Oliver smiled a sad smile and nodded.

Felicity sighed. “Look, I’m not saying you can’t buy her presents. I just don’t want you to buy her electronics. I don’t want Liv to spend her childhood in front of the screen. I want her to go to the playground and make friends and just enjoy these years.”

He nodded. “I get that, Felicity and I meant what I said. I won’t get her anything like that until _you_ tell me I can.”

She smiled. “Thanks.”

They enjoyed the rest of their dinner in silence but neither of them minded. Felicity knew that silence is better than meaningless conversation. Besides there would be plenty of time to talk after dinner – or not, it all depended.

After dinner when all the dishes were put into the dishwasher, they took their wineglasses to the living room. Oliver started the fire because it was January and although his apartment had just the right temperature it gave the romantic atmosphere a nice touch. They chose a movie to watch. Oliver suggested a romantic comedy and Felicity didn’t complain.

“Don’t you think that’s just too much?” asked Oliver towards the end of the movie when the main character purchased a plane ticket - she was clearly not going to use - just to get to the guy she liked.

Felicity didn’t think about the answer twice; she didn’t need to. “No.”

Oliver’s brows shot up. “Really?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I would spend any amount of money just to get to the love of my life,” she assured him.

“Seriously?” Oliver sounded as if he couldn’t wrap his head around it. “They know each other only for a week.”

Felicity shrugged and smiled. “Yeah. If it was you in his place I wouldn’t mind paying all my savings for a ticket.” Another shrug. “Besides you know when you meet the love of your life.” She touched his hand gently. “Like I did with you. You are my soul mate.” She knew it sounded like a cliché but she didn’t care because it was how she felt.

His eyes widened for a moment and a grin formed on his lips. Before she realized what he was doing he leaned over and kissed her hungrily. She didn’t fight him; in fact she returned it with a hungry kiss of her own. She couldn’t – or wanted to – stop herself; she’s been craving his kisses for far too long.

Felicity tilted her head as Oliver’s lips found his way to the nape of her neck and collarbone. She let out a moan.

“Shall we take it to the bedroom?” he asked in whisper, stopping for a moment.

Felicity moaned again. “Mmm, yes. Please!”

***

Felicity woke up at the morning with a start, Oliver’s arm protectively around her waist. She frowned, she was sure that something – or _someone_ – woke her up. She turned her head to look at Oliver but he was fast asleep. Frowning deeper she closed her eyes.

“Mummy?” came a voice from her other side.

Felicity quickly opened her eyes again and looked on the opposite side of the bed. Her eyes widened with a horror as she saw her daughter watching her with her blonde head tipped to the side, clutching the plush tiger from Oliver in her little arms. “What is it, sweetie?” she whispered, pulling the duvet higher. She didn’t need Liv to see her naked in Oliver’s bed and scarring her for life.

Liv sniffed. “I couldn’t find you. I went to your room but you weren’t there.” Her chin quivered.

It was then when Felicity realized her daughter’s cheeks were stained with tears. She pried herself out of Oliver’s arms and sat up on the edge of the bed. Holding the duvet tightly with one hand she gently pulled Liv closer and hugged her. “Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry!” She kissed the top of her head.

Oliver stirred and sat up too. “Well, hello there. Are you ok, pumpkin?”

Liv just nodded and Felicity looked at him over her shoulder, giving him a meaningful look.

“Sorry,” he mouthed.

“Why are you sleeping in daddy’s bed? Did he have a nightmare?” asked Liv.

Felicity’s eyes widened once again and she swallowed. She should have expected it because whenever – which wasn’t often, thank God – Liv had a nightmare Felicity would allow her to sleep in _mummy’s bed_. So really, her assumption was Felicity’s fault.

Oliver smiled and looked at his daughter. “Yeah, you could say that. But mummy made it all better,” he assured her with a wink.

Felicity pressed her lips together. She knew that this was better than the truth but wasn’t really happy about it. She didn’t want Liv to find her in his bed and she made it clear after they made love the first time of the night – not the last; _definitely_ not the last – but she fell asleep and trust Oliver to wake her up when he could hold her in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...I call this "that one happy chapter" before I ruin everything and then make it right again (maybe...probably O=o) ).
> 
> And although I enjoyed writing it it was equally hard because I have the beginning of the next chapter already written. Well, it's been written before I started to write this one to be fair.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and PLEASE bear with me.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, all mistakes are mine.

Felicity rolled her eyes when she saw that it was Oliver who called her, again! He called just ten minutes ago. She told him she was leaving her mum’s where she dropped off Liv and would be in the bunker in a bit but obviously it wasn’t enough for him. “Two seconds, Oliver. I’m just across the road,” she assured him without giving him a chance to at least say hello or try and make up an excuse.

“I wasn’t checking,” he muttered.

She chuckled and shook her head. “Sure, you weren’t.” She looked both ways to make sure that it’s safe to cross the road. “Okay, see you in two seconds.” 

As she was in the middle of the road Felicity heard a screeching noise of the tyres. She turned her head slowly to her left and her eyes widened. She was frozen at the spot. She couldn’t move. She knew she should but couldn’t. There was nothing she could do.

While the car sped her way the only thing she could think about was that she would break her promise to Oliver. She wouldn’t be seeing him anytime soon let alone in two seconds.

Just that last moment before the car hit her she recognized the driver and then everything went black.

***

He turned one side of his lips up in a cold half smile as he sped her way. She was going to pay for everything Oliver Queen did. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t the one who did it but he knew she’s been helping him even though he didn’t have any proof.

He watched her eyes widen in recognition just a second before the impact. He watched her fly through the air and hitting the ground. He didn’t stop but he slowed down just to make sure through the outside mirror that he was successful.

When there was no sign of her getting up anytime soon – never if he had it his way – he sped off. He couldn’t wait to hear about Felicity Smoak’s accident on the news; there was no doubt she would make it to the evening news and it was going to be epic! He just knew it.

***

Oliver paced around the waiting room. It’s been an hour since the ambulance brought Felicity to the hospital and he didn’t hear a word about her condition. He understood they couldn’t tell him anything because he wasn’t her husband or even a fiancé but Donna had been in the same room as him and she didn’t know anything either.

He looked out of the window with a sigh. He wandered back in his thoughts to when he found her little over an hour ago.

Oliver gave her exactly ten minutes – he counted every single second of them - from the moment she ended the phone call before he set out to search for her. The moment the elevator door opened on the top floor he heard wailing of siren and his heart skipped a beat. It took him couple of seconds to realize what could be – _was_ – happening and set off running. When he saw lifeless Felicity lying on the ground in front of the building with crowd formed around her he knew there was no amount of time that would make him forgot this. It didn’t matter if a day passed or thousand, he would never forget what he saw. 

“Felicity Smoak’s family?” the voice behind him pulled him out of his thoughts.

“Is she okay?” asked Donna as she jumped up from her seat.

The doctor, a woman in her late forties, smiled. “She is going to be. She has a concussion, bruised legs but she is going to make a full recovery. She might not remember what happened but it’s completely normal. Or she might remember but it can take years. No one can tell when it comes to head injuries.” She paused. “But there’s nothing to worry about here, really. We will keep her here for a few days and if everything’s okay we will let her go home.”

“Can we see her?” asked Donna.

The doctor looked from Donna to Oliver and back. “One at the time.”

Oliver glanced to Donna uncertainly. He didn’t want to go first and not giving her a chance to have a say about it but he needed to make sure Felicity was ok.

Donna wiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand and smiled at him. “Go.”

“Thank you!” He followed the doctor out of the waiting room, through the hallway and into Felicity’s room.

“She’s sleeping and she might be confused when she wakes up but it’s normal. She went through a lot and you need to be patient.” The older woman touched his upper arm gently.

His only answer was a nod. He couldn’t talk, a lump formed in his throat when he saw her. She wasn’t attached to any machine which was weird but he didn’t question it. The doctors knew what they were doing and Felicity’s chest was moving up and down so he knew she was breathing.

“I will leave you alone.” She paused. “But please, not too long. She needs to rest.”

“Of course,” he mumbled and walked over to the bed on which Felicity lied. He pulled a chair as close as possible and held her hand. Oliver didn’t talk, he wasn’t sure what to say so he just sat there and silently prayed that she would wake up.

It could be five minutes later or five hours, he didn’t know nor did he care, when his phone went off with an incoming call. He walked out of the room. “What is it John?” he asked his friend and found his way to the waiting room where he nodded to Donna. Felicity’s mother jumped up and almost ran to the hall.

“Lyla’s got him.”

He sucked in a breath. “Where?”

“HQ. They aren’t going to move him until you get here and have a,” Digg chuckled, “ _chat_.”

“Thanks, John. I owe you one.”

“Don’t mention it. How’s our girl?” his friend asked suddenly serious.

Oliver sighed. “The doctor said she’s going to be fine. I just saw her, she looks...she looks fine but she didn’t wake up yet,” he whispered the last part, fear taking hold of him.

“She will wake up soon. Felicity is one of the strongest women I know,” assured him John. 

“Yeah, I know. Well, I will be there in twenty.”

“See you then.”

Oliver put his phone back into his pocket and was about to go and tell Donna that he had to go when he heard his name being called by familiar voice. He turned in the direction of the voice and saw Tommy almost running.

“How is Felicity?” he asked breathlessly when he reached him.

“She will be fine,” assured him Oliver.

Tommy took a deep breath. “I’m so sorry, Ollie! When Laurel called and told me what happened and especially when she told me _who_ ’s done it I had to come here. If I knew what Trevor was up to I would never introduce them.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it!”

Oliver put his palms on his best friend’s shoulders. “It’s not your fault. No one saw this coming.”

Tommy shook his head, guilt clear in his eyes. “I should’ve.”

“It’s ok; he’s going to pay for it. The most important thing is that she is going to be fine.”

His best friend swallowed. “Is the other guy going to take care of him?” he whispered.

“What? Do you think he wouldn’t deserve it?” asked Oliver, his chin stuck out challengingly.

Tommy shook his head. “No! He deserves whatever is coming his way but he has a child.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. He doesn’t see him often because the boy lives with his mother in Florida, but he is still his father.”

Oliver wondered if Felicity knew about this but it didn’t matter. “Don’t worry; I’m not going to hurt him. But he is going to face justice,” he assured him.

***

Oliver walked to the glass cell in which Lyla put Trevor and looked the other man straight into the eyes.

“Oh, Oliver Queen. What did I do to deserve a visit from the mayor alone?” asked Trevor.

“You know exactly why I’m here,” said Oliver through clenched teeth.

“Oh, did she die? I’m sorry,” he said but there was no regret in his voice just happiness.

Oliver felt sick. He met more than his share of evil people but the evilness of this one still surprised him. “No, you little piece of shit, lucky for you she didn’t die. If she did you would have a different visit and believe me you wouldn’t like it!” he assured him quietly.

“Shame,” mused Trevor. “I hoped she would die so you could find out exactly how I felt when you killed my brother!” Trevor spat out.

“He probably deserved it, otherwise I wouldn’t kill him.”

Trevor shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. We will never know.” His lips curled in a smile. “So...what are you going to do to me if you aren’t going to kill me?”

Oliver took a step closer to the glass wall. “I’m going to put you in jail and you are going to rot in there! You are never going to see your son ever again as a free man. And if, by some miracle, you get out then I will find you and put an arrow through your heart.” He paused. “No one hurts my family and gets away with it. No one!”

Oliver didn’t wait for an answer. He just turned on his heel, walked away and didn’t look back. Trevor wasn’t worth it. Oliver had more pressing things to take care of; like picking up his daughter from Thea’s and telling her that mummy was in a hospital. But he was happy he didn’t have to tell her that her mother died because it would kill him.

***

“Ollie? What are you doing here?” Thea was clearly surprised to see him.

Oliver shrugged. “I came to pick up Liv. I’m taking her home.”

His sister seemed sceptic. “Are you sure? Don’t you want to leave her here and be with Felicity at the hospital?”

He didn’t get a chance to answer because Liv came running with a grin on her lips. “Daddy!” she squealed.

He picked her up and smiled. “Hello pumpkin. Are you ready to go home?”

Liv frowned. “But auntie Thea said that I’m going to stay with her and Roy for the night.” She looked over his shoulder expectantly and stiffened. “Where is mummy?”

“Sweetie,” he breathed out. He really hoped they would have this conversation at home.

She squinted in his arms. “Where is mummy?” It sounded like a demand.

Oliver sighed and held her tighter as it was clear that she wanted to get free. “I will take you to see her tomorrow,” he promised.

Liv shook her head and her eyes welled up with tears. “Where is she? Daddy, where is my mummy? I want my mummy!” She started to cry.

Oliver looked at his sister helplessly.

Thea shook her head. “She must have picked up the tension,” she whispered.

“Shh, pumpkin, shh. Mummy is okay. We will go and see her tomorrow, I promise.”

“No! I want to see her now! Where is she?” she shouted.

He was taken aback. She never shouted and he didn’t know what to do.

“Ok, sweetie.” He took a deep breath. “A very bad man hurt mummy and she is at hospital but she is okay. Grandma is with her and we will see her in the morning, okay?”

“No. Why can’t we see her now?” Her voice wasn’t much louder than a whisper now.

“It’s late, pumpkin.”

She hiccupped. “I want mummy. Please, take me to see mummy.”

It was breaking Oliver’s heart and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could be telling no to his daughter. “I can’t.”

Liv started wailing. “I want mummy,” she repeated.

“I know, baby, I know,” he assured her sadly.

Oliver and Thea said their goodbyes and he strapped wailing Liv into her car seat. She cried for another twenty minutes before finally falling asleep. Oliver checked on her through the rear-view mirror. It wasn’t fair that he had to be the one who told her. It wasn’t fair that there was anything to tell at the first place. He hated this. He hated feeling helpless and he made a decision that he would never let them out of his sight ever again. He wasn’t going to risk something like this happening again.

***

Felicity had the weirdest dream of her life. It felt so real and at the same time like a dream. At one moment she was talking to Oliver and at the next one she was lying on a stretcher in an ambulance. It didn’t seem like something that could have happened in reality. People don’t just jump from one thing to completely different one without going through the connection.

Felicity frowned a little when she felt someone putting something on her arm. She opened her eyes carefully, not wanting to wake up completely yet. She saw blurry unfamiliar figure.

“I’m just checking your blood pressure and pulse, Miss Smoak,” assured her feminine voice.

Felicity was confused. What was going on? Was it still a dream? It didn’t feel like it. She turned her head away from that woman and narrowed her eyes so her vision wouldn’t be that blurry and she could focus on her surroundings. 

It didn’t take Felicity too long to figure out where she was. She spent so much time in a room like this, the last time it was with Liv. It was good to know that she was at a hospital but the question was _which_ hospital. Actually, she had some more questions, needing answers. Why was she at the hospital? Did anybody know where she’s been? What day was it? What time was it?

Felicity was overwhelmed by all these questions. She started crying, she just couldn’t help it. What if nobody knew _who_ she was so they couldn’t let her mum know _where_ she was? What about Liv and Oliver? And what about her? Was she ever going to see them again?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter could be longer and it could have more of the emotional struggle of not knowing and not remembering but because it was based on my personal experience I couldn't write it for any longer. We might see some more of it in the next chapter but I had to leave it for know so I'm sorry if it doesn't look like it's finished.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter of this story and as usual all the mistakes are mine.

It was two in a morning when Felicity calmed down as she discovered something that Oliver left behind for her and it was the reassurance she needed. 

_Felicity woke up for what seemed to her like the tenth time and already her eyes welled up with tears because she didn't remember and she still didn't know if anybody knew where she's been._

_She wasn't sure why but she touched her left ring finger with her left thumb - something she did often when engaged to Oliver. It was a surprise when she felt something under her thumb. She frowned and lifted her hand in front of her face, her eyes narrowing to focus on the engagement ring she knew so well; as if anybody could forgot that particular piece of jewellery that was Queen's heirloom._

_The realization hit her. Oliver has seen her which meant he and everybody else knew where she's been. She smiled a little and breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” she whispered to the quietness of the hospital room before drifting off again._

When Felicity woke up again it was seven in a morning and she immediately touched her left ring finger as if to reassure herself that she didn’t dream it. She smiled when she discovered that the ring was still on its place. _I’m never going to take it off again,_ she vowed. Felicity was pretty sure that it would make Oliver happy too because she couldn’t imagine why else would he left it behind.

About an hour later the doctor came to her room and explained to her that she’s been hit by a car. She also assured her that she was going to make full recovery and that there was a possibility she wouldn’t remember what happened but to Felicity it seemed like a small price.

When Oliver came later that morning to see her, Felicity’s eyes lit up. She couldn’t be happier to see him.

“Hi,” she whispered and wriggled her left hand fingers in front of her. “Thank you for letting me know.”

“That was the least I could do. I wanted you to know that we’ve been here. I knew you would be worried.” He pulled a chair next to her bed and took her hand in his.

She smiled at him. “I was. I think I cried the most since Liv was born.”

“I’m sorry!”

Felicity frowned in confusion. “Why are you apologizing?”

He shrugged. “Because I wasn’t here.” He sighed a heavy sigh and whispered: “Because I wasn’t there to protect you. You ended up here because of me.”

Felicity shook her head and squeezed his hand. “You have to stop this! It was an accident.”

Oliver’s eyes grew wide. “It wasn’t! That son of a bitch did it on purpose!”

She was missing something and by his reaction it had to be something big. “Who?”

“Trevor,” said Oliver through his clenched teeth. “He’s the one who did this to you and I’m the reason why.”

It was a shock to discover that Trevor was the reason why she’s in hospital but on the other hand she knew he was capable of horrible things so it shouldn’t really surprise her. As well as it shouldn’t surprise her that Oliver would blame himself for it. He needed to know she didn’t blame him. She reached for him and touched his cheek gently. Once he looked her in the eyes, she said: “It’s not your fault. We knew that Trevor would do anything to get you although I still don’t know why but that’s beside the point. The only one to blame here is Trevor!” She took a deep breath. “And I’m sorry I ever made you feel like anything that happened was your fault. I was upset and worried.” She didn’t think it was necessary to say that she was talking about Liv, they both knew it.

Oliver leaned down and kissed her. The kiss was gentle and she could feel all the feelings he put into it. “I love you.”

Felicity smiled. “I love you, too.”

***

“Mummy!” squealed Liv when Oliver held the door to Felicity’s hospital room open and she could see her.

Felicity’s eyes welled up with tears, only this time they were happy tears. “Sweetie!” She wrapped her arms around the little girl.

“I was scared, mummy! Daddy said I can’t see you last night and I missed you!”

She exchanged a look with Oliver who shrugged. “I know, sweetie but I’m okay and I will go home soon.” 

Liv pulled herself from Felicity’s arms. “But I want you to go home now! I want to be with you.”

Felicity sighed inaudibly. “Sweetie, I can’t go home just yet. I have to stay here for a few days.”

Liv shook her head and her bottom lip trembled. “No! I don’t want you to be here. I don’t like it here! Please, mummy, come home with me. Please!”

Felicity pulled her closer and drew soothing circles with her palm on her back. “Soon, sweetheart. Just stay with daddy for a few more days and then I will be home, I promise. You won’t even have time to miss me.”

“But I do miss you!”

“I know, baby girl, I know.”

***

Felicity stayed at hospital for three more days before she was discharged. Oliver visited every day. He took Liv with him as much as he could and if he couldn’t than Donna, Thea or Laurel took her.

“Welcome home,” smiled Oliver once he parked the car in a parking lot.

Felicity chewed on her bottom lip and stayed quiet.

Oliver looked at her with a frown. “Is something wrong?”

“Well,” she paused to take a breath, “I don’t want to sound like I’m changing my mind because I’m not!” she assured him. “But maybe we should have gone to my place. First! I mean I love you and I want to live with you and as I already told you I do want to marry you but I don’t have anything at your place and I can’t really live in this.” She tugged on her t-shirt her mom brought her to the hospital the day before.

Oliver chuckled. “Felicity, honey, I wouldn’t mind seeing you in this clothes every single day for the rest of our lives.”

Felicity frowned at him. “It’s not funny, Oliver.”

He shook his head. “I know. But it’s true. Anyway, your mom already brought some of your and Liv’s clothes and things here. And the rest can wait. At least for a week because your doctor said to take it easy for another week or so and so it means that I’m not letting you to do anything for that long.”

She stared at him. “You can’t stop me from...hmmm...let’s say walking so that means that I’m going to do something.”

Oliver glared at him with a small smile on his lips. “You know what I mean. Rest of your stuff will have to wait until you’re hundred percent ok.”

She leaned closer to him and kissed him, gently. “Fine.”

***

Oliver stayed true to his word and didn’t let Felicity to do more than was necessary. He took a week off and enjoyed time with his soon-to-be-wife and their daughter. He even persuaded Samantha to let William stay over for most of that time.

Once Felicity recovered from the accident he took her to her place where she started packing all of her and Liv’s things. There wasn’t much left because Oliver’s _some clothes and things_ really meant almost everything.

Felicity’s recovery also meant that they could start planning their wedding. Liv has been ecstatic about it as well as all their friends and family. Donna, Thea, Laurel and Sara couldn’t wait to start planning. Felicity had to put her foot down at the beginning because if she didn't they would end up with the whole city there to witness the moment she would become Mrs. Queen. And although she realized she was marrying Oliver Queen, the mayor of Star City, she didn't want that. Felicity wanted an intimate wedding with just their families and friends present. And because Oliver loved her and wanted her to be happy, he was going to give it to her even if it meant disappointing his sister. Well, disappointing, Thea knew that even a small wedding could be grand and that was exactly what she was going for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo...I'm not really sure about the ending but it doesn't really matter.
> 
> At the beginning of this story as Felicity finds the engagement ring is sort of based on my experience. My mother left her handkerchief behind for me to find...apparently I talked to her when they brought me to the hospital but I don't remember it to this day but that was what I needed to know that my family knows where I'm...so I thought that Oliver could be the one reassuring Felicity and I really liked that.
> 
> Anyway, thank you all for reading this little not at all perfect story. It means a lot!


End file.
